DEC  1.7  1910      *, 

A.   — .-•> —    A> 
•S/CAL  S'ctf^V^ 


BV  285T Tps  1908" 

Protestant  missions  in  Sout 
America 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN 
SOUTH  AMERICA 


^, 


rotestant  Missions 

in 

South  America 

*     DEC!  7  1910 

Harlan  P.  Beach,  F.  A.  G.  S.,  Canon  F.  P.  L.  Josa, 

Professor  J.  Taylor  Hamilton,  Rev.  H.  C. 

Tucker,  Rev.  C.  W.  Drees,  D.  D.,  Rev. 

I.  H.  La  Fetra,  Rev.  T.  B.  Wood, 

LL.  D.,  and  Mrs.  T.  S.  Pond 


NEW  YORK 

YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  MISSIONARY  MOVEMENT 

OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  CANADA 

1908 


Copyright,  1900,  by 

STUDENT  VOLUNTEER  MOVEMENT 

FOR  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


PREFACE 

This  text-book  is  one  of  a  series,  prepared  primarily  for 
the  use  of  mission  study  classes  in  colleges  and  other  institu- 
tions of  higher  learning,  but  also  largely  for  study  classes  in 
churches  and  young  peoples'  societies.  The  somewhat 
peculiar  typography  and  paragraph  arrangement  are  ac- 
counted for  by  the  fact  that  an  experience  of  six  years  has 
proven  the  desirability  of  some  such  aid  to  the  busy  student 
or  reader.  The  Analytical  Index  at  the  close  has  likewise 
been  found  useful  in  the  class-room,  as  well  as  to  the 
reader  who  desires  to  learn  at  a  glance  the  scope  of  the 
volume.  In  class  work  it  is  desirable  that  some  of  the  addi- 
tional readings,  referred  to  in  Appendix  A.,  be  made  use  of. 
The  map  and  its  index  of  mission  stations  will  also  be  help- 
ful to  the  reader  and  student. 

The  great  need  of  a  comprehensive  sketch  of  Protestant 
effort  in  South  America  is  perfectly  obvious  to  any  one  at 
all  conversant  with  missionary  literature.  So  far  as  we  are 
aware,  this  text-book,  brief  though  it  is,  contains  the  most 
complete  account  of  Protestant  missions  in  that  continent 
that  has  yet  appeared.  Every  effort  has  been  made  to  se- 
cure as  trustworthy  information  ?s  is  possible.  The  several 
writers  were  secured  because  of  their  intimate  knowledge  of 
the  lands  and  work  which  they  have  described.  It  is 
earnestly  hoped  that  their  efforts  will  result  in  a  great  quick- 
ening of  interest  in  this  '*  Neglected  Continent,"  on  the  part, 
not  only  of  students,  but  also  in  the  hearts  of  all  Christians. 

V 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  Geographical  and  General.     By  Harlan  P.  Beach, 

Fellow  of  the  American  Geographical  Society    .         .  i 

II.  British  Guiana.     By  Rev.  Canon  F.  P.  L.  Josa     .         .  29 

III.  Dutch   Guiana,  or  Surinam.       By   Prof.   J.   Taylor 

Hamilton 43 

IV.  Brazil.     By  Rev.  H.  C.  Tucker 57 

V.  Republics  of  the   Plata  River.     By  Rev.  C.  W. 

Drees,  D.  D 89 

VI.  Chile.     By  Rev.  I.  H.  La  Fetra 117 

VII.  The  Land  of  the  Incas.     By  Rev.  T.  B.  Wood,  LL.  D.  141 

VIII.  Colombia.     By  Mrs.  T.  S.  Pond     .         .         •         .         .  161 
IX.  Venezuela.     By  Mrs.  T.  S.  Pond           .        .        .        .175 
X.  South  America  as  a  Mission  Field.    By  Rev.  T.  B. 

Wood,  LL.  D. 195 

Appendix  A. — Bibliography 216 

Appendix     B. — General    Statistics     concerning    South 

American  Countries 224 

Appendix    C. — South    American     Missionary   Statistics 

for  1900 225 

Analytical  Index 228 

Map  Index            238 

Missionary  Map  of  South  America 


vu 


GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GENERAL 


I 

GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GENERAL 

By  Harlan  P.  Beach 
Fellow  of  the  American  Geographical  Society. 

South  America  is  so  extensive  that  it  is  impossible  tC 
present  in  a  brief  text-book  anything  more  than  a  compre^ 
hensive  view  of  the  various  parts,  with  a  summarized  sketch 
of  the  work  of  Protestant  Missions  in  its  several  countries. 
In  selecting  material  for  the  opening  chapter,  choice  has 
been  made  of  those  facts  which  most  affect  its  varied  races 
and  especially  those  features  which  make  clear  the  environ- 
ment of  foreigners  living  and  laboring  on  the  continent. 
Full  details  concerning  its  lands,  peoples  and  missions  must 
be  looked  for  in  more  extended  works,  a  few  of  which  are 
referred  to  in  the  Bibliography,  found  in  Appendix  A. 

I.  Panoramic  View  of  South  America. — If  this 
continent,  containing  some  7,000,000  square  miles, — nearly 
one-seventh  of  the  land  surface  of  the  globe — could  pass 
northward  beneath  the  eye  of  a  beholder  poised  hypothetic- 
ally  in  mid-air  above  its  central  meridian,  a  most  varied  and 
remarkable  scene  would  greet  his  delighted  vision.  First  he 
would  see,  as  he  looked  southward  toward  the  vast  pear- 
shaped  mass,  the  low-lying,  verdure-clad  shores  skirting  the 
Caribbean  Sea  and  Atlantic.  The  well-wooded  expanse  of 
the  Guianas  would  fade  out  into  the  llanos  of  Venezuela 
and  Colombia  and  the  northern  slopes  of  the  Andes.  Next 
would  appear  the  Guiana  highlands  succeeded  by  the  selvas, 

3 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

— exuberant  expanses  of  tropical  vegetation  filling  the  basin  of 
South  America's  ''liquid  equator,"  the  largest  river  in  the 
world  in  respect  to  volume  and  extent  of  drainage  area. 
Meanwhile  the  backbone  of  the  continent  has  raised  itself 
aloft  in  the  Andes  of  Ecuador  where  twelve  peaks  tower 
three  miles  or  more  above  the  adjacent  ocean.  As  regions 
further  south  appear  the  continent  narrows.  The  Brazilian 
highlands  on  the  east  are  less  densely  wooded,  while  the 
western  mountain  ridges  make  Peru  an  American  Tibet. 
On  its  southeastern  border,  mainly  in  Bolivia,  lies  Titicaca, 
the  continent's  one  large  lake,  rivalling  our  own  Ontario  in 
size.  Passing  these,  one  sees  the  Gran  Chaco  wilderness 
and  the  famous  pampas  beyond.  To  the  eastward  are  the 
hills  of  Uruguay,  and  on  the  west  the  Andes  retreat  far 
enough  from  the  coast  to  form  the  fertile  plain  of  Chile. 
There  now  remain  on  the  south  only  the  comparatively 
barren  wastes  of  so-called  Patagonia,  and  the  Scandinavian 
fiords  cutting  into  the  mountains  of  southern  Chile  and 
tapering  off  into  the  bleak  and  stormy  archipelago  of  which 
"  The  Land  of  Fire  "  is  the  largest.  During  this  survey  the 
aerial  beholder  has  noted  the  regularity  of  the  coast  and  the 
fact  that  no  extensive  bays  have  indented  the  land,  nor  any 
large  islands  fringed  the  continent,  save  in  the  extreme 
southwest,  if  the  more  remote  Falklands  and  South  Georgia 
are  neglected. 

II.  River  Systems. — Returning  now  to  examine  more 
in  detail  South  America's  characteristic  features,  one  is 
struck  at  the  outset  with  its  remarkable  river  systems  to 
which  the  continent  owes  so  much,  and  which  when  im- 
proved will  provide  it  with  a  ramifying  network  of  deep 
waterways,  thus  from  a  commercial  and  missionary  point  of 
view  increasing  greatly  its  accessibility.  Only  three  of  these 
systems  will  be  described. 

4 


GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GENERAL 

1.  The  Oi'inoco. — This  river,  third  in  size  on  the 
continent,  takes  its  rise  far  up  on  the  mountain  slopes  of 
southeastern  Venezuela.  Early  in  its  course  it  sends  off  the 
Cassiquiare,  which  strangely  enough  is  the  connecting  link 
between  it  and  the  Rio  Negro,  a  tributary  of  its  powerful 
rival,  the  Amazon.  Descending  between  the  mountains  and 
impenetrable  forests  of  Venezuela  and  the  Colombian  llanos, 
it  dashes  over  the  famous  cataracts  of  Maipures  and  Atures, 
the  latter  nearly  five  miles  wide  and  six  miles  long.  Below 
its  confluence  with  the  Apure,  it  traverses  the  llanos  with  a 
width  of  four  miles  and  later  rolls  its  milk-white  flood  into 
the  Atlantic  through  a  delta,  125  miles  long.  Of  its  1,550 
miles,  more  than  1,400  are  navigable  in  two  stretches.  Most 
of  its  larger  affluents  are  likewise  navigable ;  so  that  the 
Bogota  missionary,  if  he  so  desired,  could  ascend  it  and  the 
Meta  to  within  sixty  miles  of  his  destination.  Despite  the 
extensive  overflows  of  the  rainy  season,  this  river  is  of  ex- 
ceeding importance  to  the  country's  future. 

2.  The  Afnazouj  or  Amazons. — The  disputed  etymologies 
of  this  name  were  once  its  striking  characteristics :  one 
theory  held  that  it  was  given  because  early  voyagers  saw 
female  warriors  or  Amazons  on  its  banks ;  the  other  ety- 
mology is  traced  to  the  name  given  by  the  Indians  to  its  de- 
structive tidal  bore  which  they  called  Amassona — ''boat- 
destroyer."  To  modern  economists  and  merchants  it  stands 
preeminent  among  the  streams  of  the  world  because  of  the 
vast  extent  of  its  navigable  waters — some  50,000  miles  with 
its  tributaries,  one-half  of  which  is  by  steamers, — and  the 
commercial  possibilities  of  its  enormous  basin  which  is 
estimated  to  include  more  than  two-thirds  as  many  square 
miles  as  all  Europe  contains.  Though  some  unsuccessful  at- 
tempts at  colonization  have  been  tried  along  its  lower 
reaches,    practically  nothing    has  been  accomplished   by 

5 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Western  enterprise.  Thus  one  notes  the  paradox  *'that  this 
forest,  the  largest  and  densest  in  the  world,  imports  from 
North  America  much  of  its  building  timber,  and  some  of  the 
steamers  on  the  river  have  found  it  cheaper  to  consume 
English  coal  than  to  burn  the  wood  which  grows  so 
abundantly  on  every  side."  From  the  Atlantic  to  the  heart 
of  Peru  and  Ecuador  a  navigable  highway  stands  ready  for 
the  missionary,  not  to  speak  of  the  great  tributaries  which 
will  in  the  future  carry  him  to  remote  tribes  and  districts 
one  day  to  be  opened  up  by  modern  exploitation. 

3.  The  Rio  de  la  Plata y  or  River  of  Silver,  is  more 
properly  an  estuary  into  which  flow  the  waters  of  the 
Uruguay,  Paraguay  and  Parana.  Unitedly  they  pour 
into  the  ocean  a  volume  of  water  second  only  to  the  outflow 
of  the  Amazon  and  Congo.  Though  the  Paraguay  traverses 
the  great  marsh  of  Xarayes,  elsewhere  it  passes  through 
fertile  districts  abounding  in  excellent  timber.  Missionaries 
on  board  Brazilian  steamers  cg,n  journey  up  this  river  and 
its  affluents  to  Cuyaba,  2,360  miles  above  Buenos  Aires. 
Fortunately,  too,  they  are  open  to  the  commerce  of  every 
nation.  The  Paraguay  empties  into  the  Para7id,  which  de- 
serves its  name,  meaning  *' kinsman  of  the  sea."  Rising 
about  a  hundred  miles  northwest  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  it 
boasts  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable  rapids  in  the  world, 
ending  near  the  mouth  of  the  Iguassu.  For  a  hundred  miles 
up  the  river  it  extends  ''between  ranges  of  frowning  cliff's 
which  confine  the  stream  to  a  narrow,  rocky  bed,  little  more 
than  100  yards  wide.  Through  this  gorge  the  water  pours 
in  tumultuous  fury."  Like  the  Parana,  the  Uruguay  is  ob- 
structed by  rapids ;  yet  it  is  navigable  by  sea-going  steamers 
to  a  point  373  miles  from  the  sea,  while  coasting  vessels  can 
reach  Salto,  and  other  vessels  above  the  rapids  may  pro- 
ceed beyond  Uruguay's  northern  boundary. 

6 


GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GENERAL 

4.  From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  South  America  is 
remarkably  accessible.  According  to  Rohrbach  the  mean 
distance  from  the  sea  of  any  average  district  is  343  miles, 
this  continent  being  surpassed  in  this  respect  only  by  Europe 
and  North  America. 

III.  Highlands  and  Mountains, — i.  The  Highlands 
of  Guiana  and  Brazil^  though  separated  by  parts  of  the 
Amazon  valley,  present  similar  characteristics,  and  may  be 
regarded  as  one  area.  They  vary  in  height  from  1,000  to 
4,000  feet,  on  an  average,  with  occasional  elevations  of 
8,500  feet.  Here  may  be  the  future  sanitaria  of  the  mis- 
sionaries, though  the  bulk  of  their  work  will  be  in  the  more 
populous  coastlands.  Trees  in  the  hilly  region  are  less  lofty 
and  numerous  than  in  the  selvas,  to  be  later  described.  In 
compensation  for  the  charming  luxuriance  of  those  regions, 
one  here  has  flowers  in  far  greater  abundance,  with  a  vast 
variety  of  exquisite  ferns,  and  on  the  higher  elevations  the 
Brazilian  pine  lends  a  new  beauty  to  the  rolling  woodland. 
In  the  Guiana  section  the  lofty  mountains  are  bare,  rugged 
and  often  grotesque.  Most  of  these  ranges  are  flat-topped, 
"appearing  as  though  planed  down  by  some  titanic  instru- 
ment." 

2.  The  great  mountains  of  South  America,  stretching 
along  its  entire  western  border,  are  most  interesting. 
Characterizing  them  generally.  Dr.  Greene  says:  "The 
awful  canons  and  chasms  of  the  Andes,  the  sublime  height 
of  their  peaks,  the  difficult  and  dangerous  character  of  the 
passes,  the  rich  and  varied  vegetable  life  of  the  eastern 
slope,  and  the  steep  descent  of  the  generally  barren  Pacific 
slope,  all  give  elements  of  great  interest  to  this  range."  In 
formation  "three  main  sections  are  clearly  to  be  dis- 
tinguished :  The  solitary  chain  of  the  Southern  Andes ; 
the  double  chain  of  the  Central  Andes,  with  their  elevated 

7 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

upland  valleys,  groups  of  connected  hills  and  mountain 
lakes ;  lastly,  the  diverging  Northern  Andes,  with  their  lov/- 
iying  valleys  and  detached  elevations."  With  its  declivities 
and  plateaux  this  chain  occupies  nearly  a  sixth  part  of  the 
continent. 

Andean  scenery  is  naturally  varied.  The  southernmost 
section  is  marked  by  luxuriant  and  extensive  forests,  steep 
ravines  and  picturesque  fiords,  all  crowned  by  one  of  **  the 
most  imposing  peaks  of  the  whole  Andean  range,  Mount 
Sarmiento,  which  rears  its  spotless  cone  of  snow  to  a  height 
of  6,910  feet.  .  .  .  The  beauty  of  this  peak  is  en- 
hanced by  the  numerous  blue-colored  glaciers  which  descend 
from  the  snowy  cap  through  the  dusky  woods  of  the  moun- 
tain's base  to  the  sea,  looking,  as  Darwin  expresses  it,  like 
so  many  frozen  Niagaras." 

Perhaps  the  most  striking  features  of  the  Chilian  range 
are  the  fantastic  shapes  assumed  by  the  weather-worn  soft 
rock,  resembling  the  spires  and  turrets  of  ruined  churches 
and  castles,  and  the  variety  of  coloring  of  the  different  soils. 
With  the  sparse  vegetation  of  this  region,  the  mountain 
slopes  are  strikingly  beautiful,  the  blues,  reds,  yellows  and 
whites  producing  wonderfully  fascinating  effects. 

The  Bolivian  Andes  enclose  *'the  navel  of  South 
America,"  a  plateau  as  large  as  Ireland,  having  an  ele- 
vation of  some  13,000  feet,  and  being  mainly  arid  in 
character.  The  Bolivian  missionary  leaves  the  palms  and 
banana  groves  of  the  lowlands  and  passes  upward  through 
forests  of  cactus  and  trees  to  the  zones  of  pines,  junipers  and 
beds  of  resinous  moss  a  foot  deep.  Above  15,000  feet  rise 
the  ever  snowy  crests  of  the  Cordilleras,  with  scarcely  a 
vestige  of  life,  save  the  aspiring  condor. 

The  Peruvian  ranges  on  their  western  slopes,  which  rise 
abruptly  from  the  Pacific,  are  practically  rainless ;  though  from 

8 


GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GENERAL 

June  to  October  they  are  refreshed  by  thick  mists.  In  the 
interior  its  Tibetan  characteristics  appear,  and  here,  also,  is 
found  the  grandest  scenery  of  the  Andes.  The  Punas, 
wretched,  wind-swept  meadows  affording  scanty  nourishment 
to  llamas  and  alpacas;  **the  cold,  cheerless  and  unin- 
habitable Despoblados ;  "  the  closed  valleys  with  climate 
and  products  of  the  temperate  zone,  and  redolent  with  mem- 
ories of  a  marvellous  Inca  civilization ;  the  thousand  streams 
which,  ''forcing  their  way  over  roaring  cataracts  and 
through  the  dark  clefts  of  the  Andes,"  gladden  Brazilian 
plains  with  the  matchless  Amazon ;  the  many  silver  spires 
that  one  sees  in  the  snow-clad  peaks  piercing  the  azure ; 
the  eastern,  lower  slopes  of  the  Montana,  <'a  tropical, 
wooded  upland  where  the  old  and  decayed  vegetation  decks 
itself  with  bright  twining  and  parasitic  plants  before  its 
thundering  crash  breaks  the  death-like  stillness  of  the 
primeval  forest ;  " — these  are  some  of  the  elements  that  will 
fascinate  the  Peruvian  missionary,  especially  if  he  goes 
beyond  beaten  routes. 

The  Ecuadorian  Andes  furnish  the  mountain  climber  his 
paradise.  One  journeying  southward  from  Quito  to  Rio- 
bamba  over  the  narrow  plain  would  pass,  according  to 
Bates,  "fifty  peaks  on  an  average  as  high  as  Mount  Etna, 
three  of  them  emitting  volumes  of  smoke,  and  all  of  them 
crowded  into  a  space  not  much  greater  than  the  distance 
between  London  and  Dover."  Imagine  a  railroad  journey 
of  equal  length  in  America — for  example,  from  New  York 
to  Philadelphia,  or  Trenton,  more  correctly — between  such 
heaven-piercing  giants.  One  of  them  is  the  "silver  bell" 
of  Chimborazo,  nearly  four  miles  high;  while  another, 
"turned  out  as  if  with  the  lathe,"  is  Cotopaxi,  "in  absolute 
elevation  without  a  rival  amongst  the  active  burning  moun- 
tains of  the  Old  World."     Though  slumbering  now,  it  is, 

9 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

in  Titus  Coan's  phrase,  "in  a  state  of  solemn  and  thought- 
ful suspense  "  ;  and  when  aroused  it  belches  forth  fire  from  a 
point  nearly  three  miles  higher  than  the  Vesuvian  crater, 
with  a  roar  said  to  be  audible  600  miles  away. 

In  Colombia  the  chain  rapidly  descends  toward  the 
Caribbean  Sea.  Its  parallel  ranges  are  here  intersected  with 
cross-ridges  ''  like  the  rungs  of  a  ladder."  Though  nearing 
the  end  of  their  course,  the  Andes  still  have  power  to 
interest.  Tequendama  Falls,  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
cataracts  of  the  New  World,  the  romantic  course  of  the 
Bogota,  the  increasing  luxuriance  of  the  tropical  verdure  as 
the  traveller  descends  to  the  northern  valleys,  are  Andean 
features  not  soon  forgotten. 

Some  of  the  practical  bearings  of  the  Andean  system  on 
missionary  geography  and  activities  may  be  alluded  to. 
With  this  volcanic  ridge  come  not  only  the  risk  of  eruptions, 
but  the  more  disturbing  one  of  frequent  earthquakes,  which 
occur  along  the  entire  western  border  of  the  continent. 
Moreover,  sapping  as  the  mountains  do  the  moisture  from 
the  Atlantic  winds,  the  Pacific  slope  will  always  remain  dry 
and  probably  not  be  as  fully  peopled  as  the  eastern  republics. 
However,  in  the  present  undeveloped  condition  of  llanos, 
selvas  and  pampas,  the  western  republics  are  almost  as 
favorable  fields  as  any  on  the  continent.  It  may  be  that 
future  prospectors  will  render  this  mountain  region  a  throng- 
ing abode  of  men,  if  new  Potosis  are  discovered,  and  if  it  is 
made  as  accessible  everywhere  as  the  splendid  triumphs  of 
civil  engineering  have  made  it  in  a  few  sections. 

IV.  Habitable  Plains. — i.  Llanos  of  the  Orinoco. — As 
the  Spanish  name  indicates,  these  are  *' plains,"  and  they 
occupy  a  region  in  Colombia  and  Venezuela  almost  as  large 
as  the  New  England  and  Middle  States  plus  Ohio.  While 
they  slope  downward  from  a  height  of  800  feet,  and  are  in 

10 


GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GENERAL 

part  forest,  they  are  generally  very  level  and  sparsely 
wooded  or  else  wholly  devoid  of  trees. 

Reclus  vividly  describes  an  average  llano  scene,  though 
for  a  more  graphic  picture  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  ac- 
count by  a  native,  Don  Ramon  Paez.  Reclus  writes  :  *'  In 
the  central  parts  of  the  llanos  where  the  surface  seems  per- 
fectly level,  where  the  line  of  the  horizon  is  broken  by  no 
eminence,  the  firmament  unfolds  its  azure  dome  above  a 
silent  sea  of  herbaceous  growth,  yellowish  and  scorched 
during  the  prevalence  of  the  dry  trade-winds,  dense  and 
verdant  from  the  first  appearance  of  the  winter  rains.  Al- 
though extremely  rich  in  different  species,  the  boundless 
prairie  seems  to  merge  all  its  plants  in  the  same  uniform 
element.  Except  a  few  objects  close  at  hand,  a  drooping 
flower  by  the  wayside,  some  startled  beast  or  insect  seeking 
the  cover  of  the  herbage,  nothing  stands  out  distinctly  in  the 
vast  circuit  lit  up  by  the  solar  rays.  Nature  reposes  in  its 
strength  and  majesty,  inspiring  with  a  sense  of  awe  and  sad- 
ness the  solitary  wayfarer  lost  in  the  wilderness.  Wherever 
the  eye  sweeps  the  horizon,  the  details  of  the  landscape  are 
the  same,  though  its  physiognomy  as  a  whole  changes  slowly 
with  the  hours,  the  shifting  hues  and  shadows." 

2.  Selvas  of  the  Amazon. — These  vast  "woodlands,"  ex- 
ceeding in  extent  the  great  Congo  forest  zone  and  almost 
equalling  in  area  all  the  United  States  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  occupy  the  northern  part  of  Brazil  and  extend 
slightly  into  the  adjacent  colonies  and  republics.  The 
Matto  Grosso — **  great  woods  " — are  a  southeastern  extension 
of  the  selvas.  They  are  not  wholly  forest,  however ;  for,  be- 
sides extensive  grassy  spaces  toward  the  Atlantic,  these  selvas 
are  traversed  by  the  Amazon  which  should  be  regarded,  by 
reason  of  its  labyrinth  of  streams,  not  so  much  as  a  single  river, 
but  rather  as  *'an  inland  freshwater  sea  filled  with  islands." 

II 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

As  seen  by  the  Amazon  traveller  there  is  little  visible  ex- 
cept a  "compact  wall  of  forest  trees  interlaced  with  lianas, 
overtopped  by  a  continuous  mass  of  verdure,  the  stems 
rising  on  both  banks  like  a  line  of  palisades  straight  as  reeds, 
enveloped  in  gloom  at  their  base,  expanding  overhead  to  the 
light  of  the  sun."  Bates,  the  Amazon  naturalist,  describes 
an  interior  view  of  the  selvas  :  *'With  the  exception  of  a 
few  miles  of  road  in  the  vicinity  of  the  large  towns,  with 
difficulty  kept  free  from  the  encroachment  of  young  vegeta- 
tion, this  forest  is  without  path  and  impenetrable.  Singular 
especially  is  the  tendency  both  of  plants  and  animals  in  this 
world  of  trees,  to  assume  the  character  of  creepers  and 
climbers.  .  .  .  The  flowers  and  fruits  of  the  forest 
trees  are  all  to  be  sought  for  in  the  leafy  domes  far 
above,  where  the  crowns  of  the  trees,  locked  together, 
are  exposed  to  the  light  and  heat.  All  below  is  dark, 
musty  and  cavernlike,  and  neither  flowers  nor  green 
herbage  variegate  the  damp  ground."  Some  of  the  trees 
are  colossal,  as  a  ceaba  described  by  Wallis  covering  a 
space  of  six  acres  where  25,000  persons  might  be  accom- 
modated. Another  striking  feature  "of  Amazonian  ar- 
borescence  consists  in  the  great  development  of  the  outer 
walls  sustaining,  but  detached  from  the  stem,  leaving  an 
intervening  space  wide  enough  to  aflbrd  refuge  to  several 
persons. ' ' 

3.  The  Gran  Chaco. — This  region,  occupying  the  west- 
ern part  of  Paraguay,  northeastern  Argentina  and  the 
southern  border  of  Bolivia,  is  about  the  size  of  Maine  and 
California  combined.  It  is  the  "great  hunt"  where  mul- 
titudes of  wild  beasts  attract  the  Indians  who  here  are  safe 
from  white  oppression.  While  these  plains  are  mainly  arid, 
during  the  rainy  season  when  the  country  is  inundated  they 
resemble   a  vast   lake   interspersed   with   verdant    islands. 

12 


GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GENERAL 

Near  the  rivers,  however,  rich  forests  are  found  and  vegeta- 
tion is  luxuriant. 

A  night  scene  on  the  Gran  Chaco  has  been  thus  depicted : 
**  If  the  day  with  all  its  glories  is  so  unspeakably  attractive 
to  the  lover  of  nature,  the  marvellous  nights  of  these  re- 
gions still  reserve  fresh  and  unanticipated  charms  for  him. 
There  is  nothing  to  compare  with  the  impression  of  serene 
repose  inspired  by  the  sight  of  the  starry  heavens,  especially 
in  the  more  open  meadow  lands.  Our  thoughts  revert  un- 
wittingly to  those  indescribable  nights  on  the  silent  deep, 
when  the  vessel  is  borne  along  as  by  an  unseen  power  on  the 
unruffled  surface  of  the  waters,  beneath  the  vault  of  a 
tropical  sky.  The  charm  is  heightened  by  the  countless 
swarms  of  fireflies  whose  phosphorescent  lamps  flash  out  and 
suddenly  disappear  in  the  gloom." 

4.  The  Pampas. — This  name  is  given  to  extensive  level 
districts  in  Peru  covered  with  the  primeval  forests ;  but  it  is 
more  commonly  applied  to  the  immense  grassy,  treeless 
plains  of  Argentine  Republic  which  rise  in  a  series  of  ter- 
races from  the  seaboard  to  the  base  of  the  Andes.  They  are 
in  one  place  covered  with  grass  and  absolutely  level,  at  an- 
other brackish  swamps  appear,  while  toward  the  south  and 
west  salt  steppes  or  salinas  occur.  Portions  of  the  pampas 
are  very  fertile,  but  stock  raising  is  the  industry  that  en- 
gages most  of  the  region. 

In  *'The  Great  Silver  River,"  Rumbold  writes  thus  of  a 
summer  inorning  on  the  pampas  :  "The  young  sun  floods 
the  low  and  perfectly  level  horizon  with  a  flush  of  pink  and 
yellow  light.  The  fiery  disc  emerges  out  of  what  seems  a 
sea  of  verdure,  all  burned  and  brown  though  everything  be 
in  reality,  and  in  its  slanting  rays  the  tip  of  each  blade  of 
grass,  the  giant  thistles  with  their  rose-purple  crowns,  the 
graceful  floss-like  panicles  of  the  pampa  grass,  just  touched 

13 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

by  the  breeze  and  all  glittering  with  dew,  undulate  before 
the  eye  like  the  successive  sparkling  lines  that  mark  the  lazy 
roll  of  the  deep  in  the  dawn  of  a  tropical  calm.  In  the  west 
the  vapors  of  night  have  not  entirely  rolled  away,  while 
down  in  the  deep  depressions  of  the  ground  and  over  the 
reed-fenced  lagunas  a  thin  blue  mist  still  lingers  and  mingles 
deliciously  with  the  various  subdued  tints  of  brown  and 
green  around.  This  tender  tonality  lasts  but  a  very  short 
time,  the  sun  shooting  upward  with  a  speed  and  force  that 
at  once  completely  transforms  the  picture;  the  scorching 
agencies  of  light  revealing  it  in  its  true  parched  colors  and 
reducing  it  to  a  burning  arch  above,  and  a  scorching  and 
featureless  flat  below.  The  fresh,  rippling  ocean  turns  into 
a  weary  wilderness,  staring  up  at  a  breathless,  pitiless  sky." 

The  moral  effect  of  such  an  environment  on  foreigners, 
and  on  some,  at  least,  of  the  Gauchos,  is  most  striking. 
One  of  them  thus  writes:  ''In  the  presence  of  such  an 
awe-inspiring  soUtude,  one's  thoughts  are  unconsciously 
drawn  to  dwell  upon  eternity ;  a  deep  and  yet  a  pleasant 
sadness  takes  possession  of  the  thoughtful  mind,  a  feeling 
intensified  at  the  going  down  of  the  sun  ;  and  in  the  dark- 
ness of  the  night  merging  in  an  overpowering  sense  of  help- 
lessness and  terror.  .  .  .  Men  are  known  who  for  years 
have  toiled  in  the  vain  endeavor  to  hearken  to  the  whisper- 
ings of  reason  alone,  and  who  have  smiled  compassionately 
on  those  that  spoke  of  a  better  future,  and  who  yet  at  a 
sunset  on  the  pampas  become  so  unnerved  that  they  are 
nearer  to  tears  than  to  scoffs  ;  nay,  will  listen  with  devotion 
to  the  evening  chimes  announcing  the  Ave  Maria."  It  is 
said  that  this  strange  fascination  of  environment  often  com- 
pels Europeans,  who  have  returned  home  with  a  fortune,  to 
go  back  again  to  the  hardships  of  the  old  pampa  life. 

V.  Wastes  and  Deserts. — i.  Patagonian  Desert. — 

14 


GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GENERAL 

Much  of  the  territory  above  described,  though  not  in- 
habited, is  yet  capable  of  sustaining  a  great  population  when 
the  advantage  or  necessity  for  its  occupation  arises.  Other 
sections,  however,  can  hardly  become  populous.  Most  of 
this  area  lies  in  that  portion  of  the  Argentine  Republic  com- 
monly, though  not  justifiably,  known  as  Patagonia.  This 
expanse  is  usually  called  the  Shingle  Desert.  In  favored 
sections  coarse  grass  and  stunted  bushes  and  herbs  are 
found ;  but  in  general  it  deserves  the  Indian  name  of  one 
portion  of  it,  ''the  Devil's  Country,"  since  the  ground  is 
strewn  with  rolled  pebbles,  huge  boulders,  and  is  intersected 
with  ridges  of  bare,  sharp-edged  rock.  Charles  Darwin 
calculated  that  these  covered  a  territory  200  miles  broad 
and  600  miles  in  length. 

The  impression  made  by  this  desert  upon  the  mind  of  the 
great  scientist,  he  thus  describes  :  *'  These  plains  are  pro- 
nounced by  all  to  be  most  wretched  and  useless.  They  are 
characterized  only  by  negative  possessions ;  without  habita- 
tions, without  water,  without  trees,  without  mountains,  they 
support  only  a  few  dwarfed  plants.  Why  then— and  the 
case  is  not  peculiar  to  myself— have  these  arid  wastes  taken  so 
firm  possession  of  my  mind  ?  Why  have  not  the  still  more 
level,  the  greener  and  more  fertile  pampas,  which  are 
serviceable  to  mankind,  produced  an  equal  impression  ?  I 
can  scarcely  analyze  these  feelings,  but  it  must  be  partly 
owing  to  the  free  scope  given  to  the  imagination.  The 
plains  of  Patagonia  are  boundless,  for  they  are  scarcely 
passable  and  hence  unknown.  They  bear  the  stamp  of 
having  lasted  for  ages,  and  there  appears  no  limit  to  their 
duration  through  future  time."  This  impression  is  even 
more  strongly  emphasized  by  a  later  writer  in  ''Idle  Days 
in  Patagonia." 

2.   The  Atacama  Desert.— This  is  the  principal  western 
15 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

waste  of  South  America,  though  at  various  points  west  of  the 
Andes,  especially  in  Peru,  there  are  barren  reaches.  Lying 
in  Chile's  northwestern  section,  it  rises  in  rocky  plateaux 
from  the  steep  shore  and  is  broken  by  precipitous  mountains. 
The  soil  is  rocky  rather  than  sandy,  and  to-day  has  little 
vegetation  except  the  hardiest  desert  plants.  By  reason  of 
its  saltpeter  works  and  silver,  however,  its  solitudes  are 
sparsely  peopled. 

3.  Marshes. — Some  of  these  are  saline,  notably  one  near 
the  centre  of  Argentine  Republic.  The  largest  of  the  fresh- 
water marshes  is  in  southwestern  Brazil,  that  of  Xarayes.  In 
the  rainy  season  this  is  more  properly  a  lagoon  or  lake,  and 
covers  a  district  as  large  as  Maine.  Above  this  temporary  sea, 
stretching  beyond  the  horizon,  rise  thickets  of  tall  herbs  and 
shrubs,  and  some  artificial  mounds,  formerly  used  as  Babel 
towers  by  the  Indians  who  thus  escaped  the  flood.  The 
reader  must  again  be  reminded  that  many  districts  along  the 
Amazon  and  Orinoco  are  little  better  than  marshes,  especially 
during  the  floods. 

VI.  South  American  Productions. — i.  Minerals  and 
metals^  so  essential  to  the  development  of  new  countries, 
exist  in  considerable  variety  and  abundance.  If  the  El 
Dorado  of  early  voyagers  was  a  myth,  the  gold  of  the 
Guianas  is  not,  nor  the  gold  and  diamonds  of  Brazil,  the 
iron,  copper,  lead,  bismuth  and  other  metals  of  various 
sections.  As  mentioned  later,  the  nitre  of  Chile  is  a  national 
source  of  wealth;  while  the  Andes  are  rich  in  precious 
metals,  the  mines  of  Potosi  alone  having  furnished  the  world 
over  ^1,500,000,000  worth  of  silver  since  the  Spanish  first 
took  possession  of  them.  Coal,  though  not  abundant,  nor 
of  high  quality,  is  nevertheless  a  valuable  asset. 

2.  The  products  of  the  forest  are  a  limitless  source  of 
future  wealth,  and  a  present  cause  of  prosperity.     Beautiful 

16 


GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GENERAL 

woods  used  by  cabinetmakers  are  found  in  almost  inexhaust- 
ible supply ;  a  variety  of  gums  and  wax,  and  the  extensive 
tracts  where  india-rubber  trees  flourish,  furnish  a  large  part 
of  the  exports ;  modern  medicine  could  hardly  exist  with- 
out South  America's  coca,  which  yields  cocaine,  and  above 
all  Peruvian  bark,  which  Sir  Clements  R.  Markham,  in  1861, 
so  shrewdly  and  laboriously  stole  from  Peruvian  forests  for 
the  benefit  of  fever-smitten  humanity. 

3.  Nor  do  X\iQ  field  prodtuts  fall  short  in  the  inventory 
of  the  continent's  wealth.  Reclus  is  authority  for  the  state- 
ment that  South  America  has  given  to  the  world  during  the 
past  four  centuries  more  plants  useful  for  alimentary  pur- 
poses than  any  other  division  of  the  globe.  Witness  the 
potato,  now  the  staple  food  of  so  many  millions ;  manioc 
and  yams,  more  indispensable  to  certain  negro  and  West 
Indian  populations  of  Latin  America  than  the  potato  can 
ever  be  to  the  Germans  and  Irish;  the  tomato,  peanut, 
pineapple,  guava,  mate  or  Paraguay  tea,  tobacco,  etc.  Other 
productions  not  indigenous  to  the  continent,  like  the  banana, 
which  was  carried  there  from  without ;  wheat,  the  produc- 
tion of  which  is  fast  approaching  that  of  the  States ;  and 
above  all  coffee,  are  exceedingly  valuable  factors  in  southern 
life  and  commerce.  Brazil  already  supplies  more  than  one- 
half  of  the  world's  coffee  supply. 

4.  Important  as  these  productions  now  are,  the  continent 
is  almost  wholly  virgin  soil  awaiting  the  time  of  her  develop- 
ment. It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  writers  on  world- 
politics  like  Professor  Reinsch,  and  practical  men  desiring 
to  better  their  condition  by  emigration,  are  looking  to  South 
America  as  the  theatre  of  much  of  the  twentieth  century's 
development. 

VII.  South  American  Races.— Without  pausing  to 
speak  of  the  animal  life  of  the  continent,  the  most  charac- 

17 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

teristic  features  of  which  are  its  many  edentates,  its  gigantic 
reptiles,  and  its  billions  of  birds  of  every  variety  of  color, 
attention  is  called  to  a  few  general  facts  concerning  the  men 
found  in  its  various  sections.  Further  particulars  may  be 
seen  under  the  various  countries. 

1.  Dr.  Herbertson' s  Summary. — '^ South  America  has, 
at  a  rough  estimate,  thirty-seven  and  a  half  million  inhabi- 
tants, giving  a  mean  density  of  population  of  fifty-three 
per  square  mile.  The  coastal  lands,  the  river  valleys,  espe- 
cially the  alluvial  plains  of  the  Plata  basin,  are  the  most 
densely  peopled.  The  inhabitants  of  the  interior  of  the 
forest  regions  and  in  Patagonia  consist  mainly  of  aborigines 
of  many  races,  differing  in  language  more  than  in  racial 
characteristics.  The  natives  of  the  warmer  regions  are  yel- 
lower than  the  brown  inhabitants  of  the  mountains,  but  all 
possess  the  same  dark,  lank  hair,  and  scantiness  of  beard. 
The  Caribs  of  the  lower,  the  Nu-Aruak  of  the  upper  Ama- 
zon, the  Tupi  between  the  Amazon  and  Plata,  and  the 
Guaykuru  of  the  Paraguay,  the  Ges  of  eastern  Brazil,  and 
the  Patagonians  and  Fuegians  of  the  south  are  among  the 
most  important  of  their  races  east  of  the  Andes.  The  Arau- 
canians  of  Chile,  the  old  civilized  Quichua,  who  formed  the 
Inca  State  overthrown  by  the  Spaniards,  and  the  Chibcha 
of  Colombia  are  among  the  Andean  tribes.  The  name 
Andes  was  itself  derived  from  the  Antis.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  more  densely  peopled  areas  are  of  European  and 
African  origin,  as  well  as  American.  Pure  whites,  negroes 
and  yellow  men  exist,  but  the  majority  are  of  mixed  race ; 
so  that  here,  as  Reclus  has  pointed  out,  men  containing  the 
greatest  number  of  characteristics  of  all  races  can  be  found, 
the  most  typical  average  specimens  of  humanity." 

2.  Their  Social  Co7idition. — Neglecting  the  six  million 
Indians,  a  study  of  the  history  of  the  continent  for  the  past 

i8 


GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GENERAL 

seventy  years  reveals  great  progress,  not  only  in  wealth  and 
population,  but  in  education  and  general  advancement.  In 
these  respects  South  America  has  probably  surpassed  many 
European  countries.  This  progression  has  led  some  writers 
to  ask  whether  the  Spanish  tongue  even  may  not  one  day 
rival  the  English  in  its  world-wide  predominance.  Car- 
rasco,  in  the  "  Boletin  de  la  Sociedad  de  Geografia  de  Mad- 
rid, 1 89 1,"  presents  strong  reasons  for  believing  that  with 
the  present  rate  of  increase,  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese, 
which  are  mere  varieties  of  the  same  language,  will  be 
spoken  by  180,000,000  in  1920.  In  many  centres  of  influ- 
ence South  Americans  are  awakening  to  the  consciousness 
of  their  high  destiny ;  and  with  increasing  immigration  and 
the  growing  desire  to  emulate  North  American  and  Euro- 
pean ideals  there  is  hope  for  a  great  future,  especially  if  im- 
purity, which  is  working  ruin  in  more  than  one  of  the  re- 
pubHcs,  can  be  conquered  by  the  Christian  view  of  marriage 
and  of  the  sanctity  of  the  body. 

3.  Immigration. — The  rapidly  increasing  stream  of  Euro- 
pean life  is  bringing  to  the  continent  new  hopes  and  some 
problems  as  well.  Thus  far  newcomers  are  mainly  attracted 
to  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  especially  to  the  colonies  and  to 
those  countries  south  of  the  tropics.  With  the  exception  of 
Chile,  the  Pacific  republics  are  not  securing  a  great  number, 
though  the  mines  may  one  day  allure  considerable  popula- 
tions. So,  too,  the  vast  interior  regions,  now  so  largely  path- 
less, will  attract  multitudes  when  communication  is  made 
easy  by  development  of  railroads  and  a  better  steamer  service. 
Five  factors  must  be  considered  of  special  importance  in 
thinking  of  South  America  as  a  field  for  extensive  immigration. 

(i)  Habitable  area  is  the  first  of  these.  In  this  respect 
the  southern  half  of  our  hemisphere  is  vastly  superior  to  the 
northern,  as  it  has  practically  no  frozen  region,  while  about 

'9    . 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

one-third  of  North  America  is  covered  with  snow  and  ice 
wastes,  or  with  tundras  of  moss  and  lichen.  Probably  the 
part  now  unoccupied  but  ultimately  capable  of  sustaining 
large  populations  will  be  found  greater  in  South  America 
than  in  any  other  continent  save  Africa  possibly. 

(2)  Material  resources  are  as  essential  for  national  de- 
velopment as  mere  habitable  area.  Enough  has  been  said 
to  show  that  these  abound  already,  or  can  be  readily  devel- 
oped ;  so  that  Professor  Reinsch  places  South  America  be- 
side China — though  for  different  reasons — as  likely  to  en- 
gage the  attention  of  economists,  capitalists  and  immigrants 
in  the  century  just  dawning. 

(3)  Accessibility,  as  already  stated,  is  decidedly  in  South 
America's  favor,  so  far  as  natural  features  are  concerned. 
Yet  at  present  one  must  circumnavigate  a  good  part  of  the 
continent  to  get  to  Rio  from  Lima  or  Quito,  for  instance, 
when  developed  Amazonian  navigation  would  greatly  reduce 
the  time  and  present  expense.  Railways  of  the  near  future 
will  supply  other  important  lacks  now  existing.  Moreover, 
if  the  proposed  railroad  lines  running  from  the  Mediterra- 
nean to  African  points  like  St.  Louis  or  Monrovia  materialize, 
and  good  trans-oceanic  connections  be  established,  it  will  be 
possible  to  reach  Buenos  Aires  from  Paris  in  eleven  days,  or 
a  third  of  the  time  now  required.  This  would  greatly  stimu- 
late South  American  immigration  and  intercommunication. 

(4)  But  can  European  and  North  American  immigrants 
and  capitalists  thrive  in  South  American  climates?  This 
question  is  an  important  one  for  the  missionary  also.  While 
it  is  true  that  '*  South  America  is  distinguished  from  other 
continents  by  not  having  a  marked  continental  climate,"  it 
should  be  remembered  that,  unlike  the  United  States,  Canada 
and  Europe,  which  are  almost  wholly  in  the  temperate  zone, 
less  than  a  fourth  of  South  America  lies  in  that  zone  best 

20 


GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GENERAL 

adapted  to  the  development  and  prosperity  of  the  white  races. 
Measured  on  Berghmann's  map  there  are  in  North  America 
4,000,000  square  miles  between  the  isothermals  of  46°  and 
68°  Fahrenheit  to  South  America's  2,000,000  square  miles. 

As  for  prevalent  diseases  encountered  by  missionaries 
and  other  foreigners,  they  are  not  especially  serious  for  a 
country  so  largely  tropical.  Malaria  is  the  commonest  foe 
along  the  coast,  though  the  Amazon  is  not  as  unhealthful  as 
one  would  suppose.  Both  that  region  and  the  northern 
seaboard  suffer  less  severely  from  malarious  diseases  than 
the  Congo  and  coastal  regions  of  Africa.  The  highlands 
of  the  western  coast  are  practically  free  from  such  maladies. 
Yellow  fever  along  the  coast,  except  in  the  far  south,  and 
dysentery  are  quite  common,  but  missionaries  rarely  suffer 
from  elephantiasis,  leprosy,  goitre  and  many  other  illnesses 
peculiar  to  the  continent. 

(5)  Another  factor  influencing  the  flow  of  immigration  is 
the  degree  of  stability  of  government^  safeguarding  or 
jeopardizing  life  and  property.  Though  a  continent  of 
republics,  South  America  cannot  boast  of  great  stability  of 
law  and  order.  Revolutions  are  frequent  in  some  republics, 
though  in  lands  naturally  most  attractive  to  foreigners  society 
is  more  self-restrained.  If,  as  a  distinguished  orator  and 
author  asserts,  the  indispensable  factors  in  an  ideal  republic 
are  three, — fundamentally  the  Christian,  formatively  the 
scholar,  and  conservingly  the  patriot, — most  of  these  re- 
publics possess  only  the  latter  element  of  ideality.  Even 
their  patriots  are  somewhat  fickle  and  lacking  in  the  strength 
of  conviction  begotten  by  a  biblical  faith  and  a  cosmopolitan 
and  universal  scheme  of  education.  When  these  two  ele- 
ments are  made  more  prominent,  there  will  be  a  disappear- 
ance of  the  common  charge  against  southern  republics, 
viz.,  that  they  are  such  in  form  while  in  reality  they  are 

21 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

oligarchies  or  veiled  despotisms.  Constant  improvement  is 
observable  in  most  of  them,  and  labor  and  capital  are  feel- 
ing more  safe  on  the  continent  in  consequence. 

Vin.  Characteristic  Features  of  Different  Coun- 
tries.— A  few  facts  concerning  each  of  these  countries  are 
given  below,  the  order  being  alphabetical  for  convenience  of 
reference.  All  of  them,  except  French  Guiana,  are  treated 
more  at  length  in  later  chapters.  General  facts  capable  of 
tabulation  may  be  found  in  Appendix  B. 

1.  Argentine  Republic,  including  Patagonia. — Here  in 
more  than  twenty  times  the  area  of  the  New  England  States 
is  a  population  of  less  than  three  per  square  mile.  With  a 
superb  climate  and  great  possibilities  of  development, — only 
one  per  cent,  of  its  cultivatible  area  is  now  occupied, — it 
promises  to  become  scarcely  second  to  Brazil.  It  already 
surpasses  it  in  railway  mileage.  Immigrants  generally  find 
this  country  best  adapted  to  their  needs.  The  Welsh  agri- 
cultural colony  in  Eastern  Patagonia  is  a  movement  toward 
the  reclamation  of  that  section. 

2.  Bolivia  equals  in  extent  the  continental  state  of  Texas 
twice  over,  with  Maine,  New  Hampshire  and  almost  a  Con- 
necticut besides.  It  is  the  highest  region  of  its  size  in  the 
world,  averaging  more  than  two-and-a-half  miles  above  the 
sea  level.  Lake  Titicaca  also  has  the  world's  record  as  the 
highest  large  body  of  water.  *' Its  lonely  waters  have  no 
outlet  to  the  sea,  but  are  guarded  on  their  southern  shores 
by  gigantic  ruins  of  a  pre-historic  empire — palaces,  temples 
and  fortresses — silent,  mysterious  monuments  of  a  long-lost 
golden  age."  Bolivia  is  probably  richer  than  any  other 
South  American  country  in  minerals.  Its  present  inaccess- 
ibility will  be  partially  remedied  by  the  railway  from  Anto- 
fagasta  on  the  Pacific  to  La  Paz,  and  by  other  lines  under 
contemplation,  especially  the  international  route  to  the  Ar- 

22 


GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GENERAL 

gentine  Republic,  now  being  surveyed.  The  branches  of 
the  Madeira,  however,  offer  the  most  promising  outlet  for 
the  future  commerce  of  Bolivia.  At  present  it  is  probably 
the  least  developed  of  South  American  republics,  and  that 
despite  the  fact  that  an  island  in  Titicaca  was  the  home  of 
the  founders  of  the  Inca  Empire  and  hence  the  seat  of  the 
continent's  highest  indigenous  civilization. 

3.  Brazil  must  be  thought  of  as  covering  a  region  almost 
as  large  as  the  United  States  with  Texas  repeated  a  second 
time;  or  as  being  "larger  than  European  Russia,  Germany, 
Austria- Hungary  and  France  combined,  and  its  natural  re- 
sources are  commensurate  with  its  extent."  Ocean  steamers 
can  ascend  the  Amazon  and  its  tributaries  to  the  boundaries 
of  Peru,  and  smaller  ones  can  go  much  farther.  Hitherto 
it  has  mainly  attracted  immigrants  belonging  to  the  Latin 
races  rather  than  to  those  of  Northern  Europe.  With  the 
excellent  climate  and  soil  of  its  southern  portion,  and  perhaps 
the  most  delightful  climate  in  the  world  on  the  great  plateau, 
Brazil  will  attract  multitudes.  Her  unparalleled  possibilities 
for  river  transportation,  and  the  8,718  miles  of  railway  in 
operation,  not  to  speak  of  a  still  larger  mileage  constructing 
or  under  survey,  may  make  this  republic  our  formidable  rival 
during  the  coming  century. 

4.  Chile  would  be  little  more  than  covered  were  Montana 
and  the  two  Dakotas  torn  into  strips  from  seventy  to  250 
miles  wide  and  stretched  from  north  to  south  for  a  distance 
as  great  as  from  Portland,  Me.,  to  San  Francisco,  which  is 
the  approximate  length  of  this  republic.  An  unbroken 
mountain  wall,  varying  from  6,000  feet  in  average  height  in 
the  south  to  15,000  feet  in  the  north,  shuts  off  this  prosper- 
ous and  wealthy  country  from  easy  communication  with  the 
interior.  However,  less  than  fifty  miles  of  the  Trans- Andine 
railway  are  now  lacking,  and  hence  this  limitation  will  soon 

23 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

be  removed.  At  present  the  journey  over  the  Andes  from 
Santiago  to  Buenos  Aires  requires  only  three  days  and  a 
half.  Its  inhabitants  of  the  upper  classes  have  kept  them- 
selves more  purely  Spanish  than  in  any  South  American 
country.  Immigration  is  not  very  marked;  yet  with  the 
good  financial  standing  of  the  country,  its  cool  climate  and 
its  spirit  of  progress  in  various  directions,  it  presents  great 
attractions  to  the  immigrant. 

5.  Colombia — almost  equaling  Texas,  Wyoming  and  Mon- 
tana combined — in  proportion  to  its  area  has  more  forest 
land  than  any  other  South  American  republic.  Its  emerald 
mines  are  the  richest  yet  discovered  and  furnish  nearly  all 
of  the  world's  supply.  While  the  coast  and  river  valleys 
are  hot  and  tropical  in  their  products,  the  more  populous 
part  of  the  country  is  elevated  with  a  climate  like  perpetual 
spring  and  with  the  environment  of  temperate  regions.  Un- 
fortunately the  lack  of  railways, — there  were  less  than  400 
miles  in  1898, — the  practical  absence  of  roads,  the  neglect 
of  education  and  the  frequency  of  civil  wars  have  greatly 
retarded  the  country's  development. 

6.  Ecuador  is  about  as  large  as  Germany,  or  the  New- 
England  States  plus  New  York  and  New  Jersey.  Professor 
Orton  says  of  this  country,  "  Nowhere  on  the  face  of  the 
earth  is  there  such  a  grand  assemblage  of  mountains. 
Twenty-two  summits  are  covered  with  perpetual  snow,  and 
fifty  are  over  10,000  feet  high."  Here,  too,  is  South  Amer- 
ica's centre  of  volcanic  activity.  "  To  the  antiquary  it  is  a 
region  very  interesting  from  the  remains  of  a  past  indigenous 
civilization.  Rich  in  all  the  varied  products  of  the  temper- 
ate and  tropical  zones,  it  is  a  country  of  magnificent  future 
possibiHties,  but  needing  population  for  its  development." 
At  present  conditions  are  not  very  favorable  for  immigration, 
though  they  are  improving  very  rapidly. 

24 


GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GENERAL 

7.  The  Falklands  aftd  South  Georgia. — The  Falklandsy 
belonging  to  Great  Britain  and  lying  340  miles  east  of  Ma- 
gellan Strait,  are  nearly  the  size  of  New  Jersey  with  a  popu- 
lation of  slightly  more  than  2,000.  It  is  a  region  of  fogs 
and  mists  in  spring  and  autumn,  but  it  is  favorable  for 
sheep-raising,  the  leading  industry.  Penguins  are  numerous 
enough  to  give  the  governor  the  sobriquet  of  "King  of  the 
Penguins.'*  So  violent  at  times  are  the  winds  that  they 
"uproot  and  scatter  like  straw  the  very  cabbages  grown  in 
the  kitchen  gardens  of  the  settlers."  South  Georgia^  800 
miles  farther  eastward,  is  uninhabited  and  only  occasionally 
visited  by  sailors  and  fishermen. 

8.  The  three  Guianas  are  the  only  European  colonies 
on  the  continent  and  are  almost  as  large  as  Wyoming  and 
Colorado  combined.  The  Atlantic  coast  lands  are  low  and 
in  some  parts  high  tides  would  flood  the  country  for  ten 
miles  or  more  inland,  were  they  not  held  back  by  artificial 
sea-walls,  built  to  make  available  this  richest  of  soils.  It  is 
"a  region  of  dense  forests,  heavy  rains  and  intense  heat," 
and  while  unhealthful,  it  is  not  peculiarly  so  except  in  French 
Guiana.  The  latter,  commonly  called  Cayenne,  is  unlike 
the  other  two  colonies  in  that  it  has  elevated  lands  along  the 
shore  and  several  rocky  islands  off  the  coast.  Though  it 
has  gained  a  bad  name  from  its  being  used  as  a  penal  set- 
tlement, "it  has  all  the  capabilities  of  the  other  Guianas 
and  could  be  developed  with  advantage."  It  is  the  only 
country  in  South  America  untouched  by  Protestant  missions, 
a  fact  not  so  vital  since  its  total  population  was  estimated  in 
1895  as  only  35,065.  Dutch  Guiana,  it  may  be  remem- 
bered, was  the  purchase  price  paid  by  the  English  to  the 
Dutch  in  1667  for  New  York  City,  then  New  Amsterdam. 

9.  Paraguay  is  larger  than  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut, 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania  combined.     This  is  the  home 

25 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

of  the  mat6,  or  Paraguay  tea,  which  is  in  general  use 
throughout  most  of  South  America.  It  is  also  the  scene  of 
the  memorable  experiment  of  the  Jesuits,  to  whom  in  the 
seventeenth  century  was  entrusted  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
administration  of  the  country.  Their  interesting  plans  were 
practically  overthrown  upon  their  expulsion  in  1768.  "The 
country  is  so  highly  favored  by  nature  and  its  innate  re- 
sources are  so  great  that  when  for  some  twenty-six  years  it 
remained  under  the  remarkable  tyranny  of  the  dictator,  Dr. 
Francia,  and  was  prohibited  from  holding  intercourse  with 
other  nations,  it  was  not  only  self-supporting,  but  actually 
accumulated  wealth."  The  two  dominations  above  named 
have  attracted  world-wide  attention. 

10.  PerUy  roughly  speaking,  could  nearly  cover  the  states 
lying  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Its  mineral  wealth  is 
proverbial,  though  in  output  it  is  surpassed  by  Bolivia  and 
Chile.  Peru's  once  famous  guano  deposits  are  now  nearly 
exhausted.  Its  history,  made  attractive  by  Prescott  and 
others,  constitutes  one  of  the  most  interesting  records  of  the 
New  World.  It  is  estimated  that  fifty -seven  per  cent,  of 
Peru's  present  population  consists  of  the  descendants  of 
this  marvellous  Inca  race. 

11.  Uruguay  is  South  America's  smallest  republic,  being 
no  larger  than  the  New  England  States  and  Maryland. 
Stock  raising  is  its  principal  industry,  and  for  that  the  land 
is  especially  adapted.  In  general  it  offers  to  immigrants  the 
same  inducements  as  Argentina.  Extensive  national  and 
departmental  roads,  more  than  a  thousand  miles  of  railway, 
an  active  commerce  and  a  delightful  climate  are  doing  much 
for  Uruguay's  development,  which,  however,  is  somewhat 
retarded  by  its  government,  described  as  "a  sham  constitu- 
tionalism." 

12.  Venezuela  is  larger  than  France  and  Germany  taken 

26 


GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  GENERAL 

together,  and  about  equals  our  Gulf  States,  plus  Kentucky, 
Arkansas  and  Tennessee.  It  contains  the  largest  lake — so- 
called — in  the  northern  part  of  the  continent.  Its  basin 
and  the  coasts  are  among  the  hottest  regions  of  South  Amer- 
ica. Venezuela's  vast  tracts  of  unutilized  lands,  and  the 
prevalence  of  the  cattle-breeding  industry,  remind  one  of 
Colombia. 

IX.  Method  of  Treatment. — i.  Relation  of  Parts. — 
The  foregoing  sections  have  given  in  a  general  way  a  view 
of  the  land,  the  people  and  the  possibilities  of  the  various 
portions  of  South  America.  A  final  chapter  will  recapitu- 
late some  of  these  facts  and  add  many  others  with  a  view  to 
bringing  before  the  reader  the  manifold  appeal  of  this  greatly 
*' neglected  continent."  The  intervening  chapters  contain 
more  particularized  statements,  by  authorities  who  know 
intimately  the  lands  concerning  which  they  write,  relat- 
ing to  the  peoples  of  the  various  countries  and  the  work  of 
Protestant  missions  among  these  peoples. 

2.  The  order  of  presentation  will  be  that  of  a  supposed 
traveller  circumnavigating  the  continent  and  viewing  for 
himself  these  lands  and  missions.  It  so  happens  that  this  is 
approximately  the  chronological  order  in  which  mission 
work  was  undertaken  in  various  South  American  countries. 
With  so  many  different  missionary  societies  in  the  field  and 
such  a  variety  of  writers,  it  inevitably  happens  that  entire 
justice  may  not  be  done  to  some  societies,  while  undue 
emphasis  may  possibly  be  placed  on  others.  In  some  cases 
this  is  due  to  lack  of  information  concerning  these  societies. 
The  statistics  in  Appendix  C.  are  especially  subject  to  this 
lack.  While  this  survey  reveals  the  fact  that  mission  work 
is  largely  confined  to  the  coast  regions,  it  is  equally  true  that 
this  is  the  region  of  largest  populations,  few  except  scattered 
tribes  of  Indians  being  found  in  the  far  interior. 

27 


BRITISH  GUIANA,  OR  DEMERARA 


II 

BRITISH  GUIANA,  OR  DEMERARA 

By  Rev.  Canon  F.  P.  Luigi  Josa 
Georgetown,  British  Guiana. 

Author  of  "  The  Apostle  of  the  Indians  of  Guiana,"   "  The  Life  of 
St.  Francis  d'  Assisi,"  etc. 

I.  Settlement  of  British  Guiana. — The  Eldorado  of  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  is  a  country  still  very  sparsely  populated.  It 
was  colonized  so  long  ago  as  1580  by  the  Dutch,  and  although 
various  attempts  were  made  by  British  adventurers  to  settle 
on  the  land,  it  was  only  in  1663  that  Lord  Willoughby  suc- 
ceeded in  establishing  an  English  settlement.  The  country 
has  been  held  in  turn  by  Holland,  France  and  England ; 
but  it  was  finally  ceded  to  Great  Britain  in  18 14.  In  183 1 
the  three  counties — named  respectively  after  the  three  large 
rivers  that  traverse  them,  Demerara,  Essequibo,  and  Berbice 
— were  united  into  one  colony,  British  Guiana. 

II.  Its  Population. — i.  Number  and  Races. — The  popu- 
lation, which  according  to  the  census  of  1898,  was  286,222, 
does  not  now  exceed  300,000,  more  than  one-sixth  of  whom 
dwell  in  Georgetown,  the  capital  of  Demerara.  The  coast 
lands,  composed  of  rich  alluvial  soil,  are  the  only  settled 
parts  of  the  country.  In  the  interior  there  are  to  be  found 
here  and  there  small  settlements  of  gold  diggers,  mostly 
negroes  or  colored  people,  who  with  very  rude  and  primi- 
tive implements  are  extracting  gold  from  the  surface  of  the 
earth.     During  the  last  few  years  100,000  ounces  per  annum 

31 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

have  been  so  extracted.  Gold-mining  is  in  its  infancy. 
The  interior,  however,  is  peopled  by  Indians  of  various 
tribes ;  but  owing  to  their  nomadic  habits,  it  is  impossible 
to  say  how  numerous  they  are.  Estimates  of  the  number 
vary  from  7,000  to  30,000.  The  best  known  tribes  are 
those  dwelling  nearer  the  coast,  or  settled  lands,  viz.,  Ara- 
waks,  Acawaios,  Caribs  and  Waraus.  Further  inland  are 
to  be  found  Patamunas  or  Paramanas,  Macusis,  Arecunas, 
Wahpisianas  or  Wapianas. 

2.  Negroes  and  Effect  of  their  Enfranchisement. — The 
coast  lands  are  inhabited  by  negroes  or  the  descendants  of  the 
slaves, — who  were  imported  into  British  Guiana  and  the 
West  Indies  during  the  time  of  the  slave-trade, — and  people 
of  mixed  blood.  These  form  the  majority  of  the  popula- 
tion. In  1836  slavery  was  abolished  and  the  natural  result 
was  that  the  freed  slaves  worked  only  when  it  suited  them, 
or  when  compelled  to  do  so  by  pangs  of  hunger.  The 
country  was  nearly  ruined  \  plantation  after  plantation  was 
abandoned,  and  it  seemed  as  if  this  '^  magnificent  province  " 
would  soon  become  a  howling  wilderness. 

3.  Immigration. — Some  of  the  bolder  and  more  venture- 
some planters  started  a  system  of  immigration /r<7»^  India 
and  Chinay  and  by  1864  some  4,000  immigrants  had  arrived 
from  the  East.  Thirty  years  later  the  number  of  Asiatics 
imported — including  13,000  Chinese — was  130,000;  but  as 
these  people  were  under  contract  to  remain  only  for  a  period 
of  ten  years,  many  of  them  have  returned  to  their  native 
countries.  About  100,000  of  these  Asiatics  are  here  and 
the  wisdom  of  the  Government  has  at  last  made  provision  to 
induce  "coolies,"  as  the  East  Indians  are  called,  to  settle 
on  the  land,  plots  of  which  are  offered  them  in  lieu  of  return 
passage.  In  addition  to  these  people,  there  are  a  few  immi- 
grants//-i^/w  Africa^  chiefly  Congos,  and  from  the  neighbor- 

32 


BRITISH  GUIANA,  OR  DEMERARA 

ing  islands,  together  with  some  10,000  Po7'tuguese  from 
Madeira,  and  a  few  Europeans. 

4.  Difficulties  of  Evangelizing  Immigrants. — The  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  evangelizing  all  these  different  people, 
belonging  to  various  races  and  speaking  difficult  languages, 
may  easily  be  imagined.  The  languages  or  dialects  spoken 
by  different  Indian  tribes  had  never  been  reduced  to  a  sys- 
tem or  even  written  before  the  missionaries  undertook  to 
preach  the  gospel.  The  Indian  immigrants  speak  Hindis 
Urdu,  Tamil,  Telugu,  Nepalese,  and  even  Pashtu — these 
being  from  Afghanistan,  besides  various  other  dialects. 

III.  Summary  of  the  Work  of  Different 
Churches. — i.  Early  Attempts. — At  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century  there  were  but  two  ??iinisters  of  religion 
in  the  whole  colony, — the  chaplain  of  the  British  forces  and 
the  minister  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church.  Neither  of 
these  seemed  to  have  had  the  time  or  the  inclination  to  look 
after  either  negroes  or  aborigines.  Records  show  that  the 
Moravian  Brethren  did  some  useful  work  among  the  In- 
dians in  Berbice  Colony.  Their  labors  began  in  1735  and 
were  zealously  carried  on  till  the  end  of  the  century,  when 
their  mission  was  entirely  abandoned,  though  they  are  now 
represented  at  three  stations.  The  Church  of  England, 
through  the  Church  Missioiiary  Society,  began  its  work  in 
1829  and  the  efforts  of  Bernaud  and  Youd  were  very  suc- 
cessful among  the  Indians  of  the  Essequibo  and  Potaro 
rivers.  The  work  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  was 
given  up  in  the  year  1856. 

2.  Initial  Efforts  of  the  S.  P.  6^.— In  1835  the  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  began  to 
look  after  the  negroes,  and  we  find  that  between  this  year 
and  1850  the  Society  spent  ;£33,6o9  on  negro  evangeliza- 
tion.    Statements    were    received   by  the   Society  in   the 

33 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

autumn  of  1834  showing  *Hhat  an  increased  desire  for  re- 
ligious instruction  had  been  manifested  by  the  emancipated 
negroes ;  that  additional  facilities  for  satisfying  that  desire 
were  loudly  called  for ;  that  the  spiritual  interests  of  the 
people  were  already  pressing  heavily  upon  the  means  which 
the  clergy  had  at  their  command ;  and  that  those  means 
were  utterly  insufficient  to  enable  them  to  take  advantage  of 
the  disposition  which  existed  both  among  the  proprietors 
and  the  working  people  to  receive  from  them  the  benefit  of 
a  Christian  education  for  their  children."  Under  these 
circumstances  special  efforts  were  made  for  the  erection  of 
churches  and  schools  and  for  the  maintenance  of  various 
agencies  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  among  the 
negroes. 

3.  Original  Attitude  of  the  Government. — The  Govern- 
ment also  began  to  take  a  deep  interest  and  voted  money 
liberally  for  the  erection  of  churches  and  schools  and  the 
support  of  clergy  and  schoolmasters.  The  whole  colony 
was  divided  into  parishes,  and  owing  to  the  presence  of  a 
large  number  of  Scotch  Presbyterians,  the  parishes  alternated 
between  the  Anglicans  and  the  Presbyterians ;  and  since  it 
happened  that  in  several  parishes  there  were  English  plant- 
ers, chaplaincies  or  curacies  of  the  Church  of  England  were 
established  also. 

4.  Bishop  Austin^ s  Labors. — In  1842  Guiana,  which  had 
hitherto  been  a  part  of  the  Diocese  of  Barbados,  was  made 
into  a  separate  see,  "■  the  Diocese  of  Guiana,"  and  its  first 
bishop  was  the  Right  Rev.  William  Piercy  Austin,  who  was 
a  member  of  an  old  West  Indian  family  and  whose  father 
and  brother  had  great  interests  in  the  plantations  of  Guiana. 
Bishop  Austin  continued  his  work  for  fifty  years  and  died  at 
his  post,  having  seen  a  practically  heathen  colony  become 
changed  into  a  Christian  colony,  so  far  as  the  negroes  were 

34 


BRITISH  GUIANA,  OR  DEMERARA 

concerned.  During  his  first  visitation,  he  confirmed  3,325 
persons  and  writes  thus  at  the  conclusion:  "If  we  look 
back  twenty  years  and  ask  the  question,  what  has  the  Society 
done  ?  the  answer  is,  Before  that  time  we  had  two  clergymen 
and  a  solitary  place  of  worship  here  and  there :  now  our 
number  is  twenty-eight;  nor  can  the  traveler  proceed  many 
miles  through  the  cultivated  districts  without  seeing  the 
modest  spire  or  hearing  the  inviting  notes  of  the  tolling 
bell."  It  is  estimated  that  there  are  now  over  20,000  com- 
municants and  about  150,000  adherents  of  the  Church  of 
England. 

5.  Other  societies  have  also  labored  in  British  Guiana 
with  varying  success.  The  Presbyterian  Church  has  nu- 
merous adherents ;  the  London  Missionary  Society  did  nota- 
ble work  in  propagating  the  gospel  previous  to  their  with- 
drawal in  1867  ;  the  Wesleyan  Society  has  started  missions 
all  over  the  country,  and  its  latest  records  show  over  4,000 
communicants.  The  Roman  CathoHcs  care  chiefly  for  the 
Portuguese  who  have  migrated  from  Madeira;  while  the 
Salvation  Army,  which  has  lately  arrived  in  British  Guiana, 
is  meeting  with  success  among  the  lowest  classes  of 
society. 

6.  Gradual  Withdrawal  of  Government  Aid. — It  should 
be  stated  that  the  Government  has  hitherto  granted  concur- 
rent endowments;  and  every  Church,  be  it  Anglican  or 
Roman,  Wesleyan  or  any  other  body,  can  apply  for  a  grant, 
which  is  apportioned  by  the  Government  to  each  denomina- 
tion in  proportion  to  the  number  of  its  adherents.  On 
principle,  nearly  all  the  Congregationalists  have  refused 
Government  aid  for  the  support  of  their  churches ;  but  even 
they  do  not  hesitate  to  receive  a  grant-in-aid  for  their 
schools.  The  Government  now  has  concluded  to  withdraw 
help  gradually  from  the  churches  and  has  made  a  beginning 

35 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

by  deducting  one-twentieth  each  year.  Probably  in  a  few 
years  no  aid  whatever  will  be  given  from  Government  sources 
to  the  churches.  In  the  opinion  of  most  the  step  is  consid- 
ered fatal  to  the  existence  of  churches  in  country  places 
where  the  people  are  mainly  very  poor.  Some  of  them 
are  already  beginning  lo  establish  a  central  fund  to  provide 
for  present  and  future  needs. 

7.  Extent  of  Missionary  Success  in  Guiana. — We  are 
now  to  consider  the  question  whether  the  efforts  put  forth  by 
the  various  churches  have  met  with  commensurate  success. 
At  the  outset,  as  has  been  already  stated,  all  the  negroes 
and  others  of  mixed  blood  are  nominal  Christians.  Euro- 
peans and  others  of  Western  origin  frequently  measure  such 
efforts  with  prejudiced  minds.  They  forget  that  it  was  only 
in  1836  that  the  people  were  made  free,  and  that  before  that 
time,  with  exceptions  here  and  there,  a  negro  was  considered 
as  a  mere  chattel  having  a  body  to  nourish ;  but  as  for  the 
soul,  some  even  doubted  whether  he  possessed  any.  After 
2,000  years  of  effort,  Christianity  has  hardly  succeeded  in 
placing  a  thin  veneer  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  on  the  hearts  of 
Western  races.  Surely  much  ought  not  to  be  expected  in 
Guiana  after  only  a  little  more  than  half  a  century  of  effort. 
It  may  be  said  that  the  negroes  are  religious,  impressionable 
and  easily  swayed  by  pulpit  oratory.  They  attend  to  their 
religious  duties  with  more  or  less  assiduity  and  partake 
regularly  of  the  Holy  Communion.  The  great  visible  blot 
in  these  Christian  lives  is  the  number  of  illegitimate  children 
brought  to  the  font  every  year.  About  fifty  per  cent,  of 
their  offspring  are  of  illegitimate  parentage ;  yet  at  the  same 
time  it  should  be  stated  that  as  a  rule  these  couples  are 
faithful  to  each  other.  One  chief  reason  why  they  are  not 
joined  together  in  holy  matrimony  is  their  fondness  for 
show,  and  they  think  nothing  of  spending  one  or  two  hun- 

36 


BRITISH  GtrrANA,  OR  DEMERARA 

dred  dollars,  the  saving  of  years,  for  a  wedding  feast. 
There  is,  however,  noticeable  improvement  in  this  par- 
ticular. 

8.  Future  of  the  Guiana  Negro. — The  negroes  have  shown 
great  capabilities.  Several  of  them  are  members  of  the 
legislative  body,  and  there  are  many  who  have  entered  the 
learned  professions,  becoming  ministers,  lawyers  and  doc- 
tors. There  is  unfortunately  a  foolish  notion  that  manual 
labor,  especially  in  the  fields,  is  degrading  ;  and  when  the 
people  have  learned  the  nobility  of  labor  and  that  Mother 
Earth  is  one  of  our  best  friends  if  we  only  woo  her,  then, 
and  then  only,  the  greatness  of  our  people  will  be  fully  de- 
veloped. Meanwhile  serious  inroads  are  being  made  by  a 
phthisis  which  is  decimating  our  people,  the  mortality 
among  them  being  very  great.  Were  it  not  for  immigra- 
tion from  neighboring  islands,  there  would  be  fewer  of  the 
descendants  of  the  African  slaves  now  than  there  were 
twenty  years  ago. 

IV.  Work  for  the  Aboriginal  Races. — i.  Societies 
Engaged. — The  most  important  work  has  been  that  of  the 
evangelization  of  the  aborigines  of  the  country,  and  the 
Church  of  England  has  the  honor  of  having  accomplished 
most  of  this.  In  fact,  the  Roman  Church  and  the  Presby- 
terian communion  have  but  one  mission  each  among  the 
aborigines.  All  the  others  were  started  and  are  carried  on 
by  the  Church  of  England.  The  S.  P.  G.  is  the  main  ex- 
ternal help  in  this  movement ;  indeed,  if  it  were  not  for  this 
great  Society,  the  work  could  not  have  been  adequately  car- 
ried on  among  these  interesting  people.  The  Church  has 
now  established  a  complete  mission,  extending  from  the 
Corentyne  on  one  side  right  up  to  the  Barima,  the  last  mis- 
sion being  established  in  1890.  There  is  one  of  these  on 
all  the  important  rivers,  having  several  stations  connected 

37 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

with  each.  If  money  and  men  could  be  obtained  now,  the 
whole  country  would  be  occupied. 

2.  Description  of  One  Mission, — The  work  has  been 
eminently  blessed  and  to  show  this,  a  description  of  one 
mission  must  suffice  to  give  an  idea  of  it.  In  1840  W.  H. 
Brett,  a  young  Englishman,  was  sent  to  do  what  he  could 
toward  establishing  a  mission  in  the  Pomeroon.  The  state 
of  the  Indians  at  that  time  may  best  be  described  by  one 
who  at  first  did  not  encourage  missionary  effort.  The  civil 
magistrate  in  the  Pomeroon  thus  writes  :  "A  more  disor- 
derly people  than  the  Arawaks  could  not  be  found  in  any 
part  of  Guiana ;  murders  and  violent  cases  of  assault  were 
of  frequent  occurrence."  Among  these  people  Mr.  Brett 
set  to  work.  At  first  he  met  with  no  success ;  but  at  last 
after  patient  toil  and  in  spite  of  the  threats  of  the  sorcerers 
that  any  one  who  went  to  listen  to  the  word  of  God  would 
become  sick  and  die,  a  sorcerer  named  Sacibarra  (Beautiful 
hair),  came  forward  and  after  instruction  he  and  his  family 
were  admitted  into  the  church,  he  receiving  the  Christian 
name  of  Cornelius.  After  this  conversion  the  work  became 
comparatively  easy.  Mr.  Brett  systematized  four  different 
languages — Arawak,  Acawaio,  Caribi,  and  Warau — and 
made  a  grammar  and  vocabulary  for  each  of  these.  He 
translated  the  four  Gospels,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  some 
questions  on  the  Old  Testament,  and  catechisms  in  all  the 
languages,  thus  preparing  the  way  for  future  missionaries  to 
continue  the  work. 

At  the  present  moment  over  5,000  in  this  district  alone 
have  been  brought  into  the  Church  through  baptism.  The 
above  named  magistrate  will  again  be  cited  to  give  his 
opinion  of  the  effect  of  missionary  tuork.  <<Now  the  case 
is  reversed ;  no  outrages  of  any  description  ever  happen. 
They  attend  regularly  Divine  service,  their  children  are  edu- 

38 


BRITISH  GUIANA,  OR  DEMERARA 

cated,  they  themselves  dress  neatly,  are  lawfully  married, 
and  as  a  body  there  are  no  people  in  point  of  general  good 
conduct  to  surpass  them.  This  change,  which  has  caused 
peace  and  contentment  to  prevail,  was  brought  about  solely 
by  missionary  labor." 

Let  us  examine  the  mission  station  just  described.  It  is 
called  Cabacaburi  and  is  situated  on  the  river  Pomeroon. 
At  the  foot  of  the  hill  there  is  to  be  seen  a  mound  which 
was  excavated  and  found  to  contain  the  bones  of  animals 
and  human  beings.  On  further  examination  it  was  noted 
that  the  skulls  had  been  cracked  open  and  the  larger  bones 
split  through,  evidently  to  get  at  the  brains  and  marrow. 
This  was  a  kitchen  midden,  an  evidence  that  at  one  time, 
after  those  terrible  invasions  by  the  Indians  of  the  Carib- 
bean Sea,  the  prisoners  taken  in  battle  were  slaughtered  and 
devoured.  On  this  very  spot  we  now  see  a  church  beauti- 
fully built  and  attended  day  after  day  by  the  descendants  of 
those  very  people.  The  writer  has  frequently  worshipped 
in  this  building  and  has  been  privileged  to  administer  the 
sacrament  of  love  to  all  these  tribes.  The  progress  that  the 
gospel  has  made  is  to  be  seen  in  the  devotion  of  the  people. 

3.  Characteristics  and  Future  Prospects  of  the  Indians. — 
These  children  of  the  forests,  however,  have  never  taken  to 
civilized  habits  and  they  compel  their  women  to  till  the 
ground,  reserving  for  themselves  the  more  exhilarating  work 
of  hunting.  They  are  children  still ;  they  live  for  to-day, 
leaving  to-morrow  to  care  for  itself.  A  humble  benab  made 
of  a  few  posts  with  a  roof  of  palm  leaves,  a  few  cooking 
utensils,  and  the  weapons  needed  for  the  chase  make  up  the 
sum  total  of  their  requirements.  Many  of  them  have  been 
tempted  to  serious  sin  under  the  influence  of  intemperance, 
and  the  sight  of  Indians  intoxicated  by  liquor  furnished 
them  by  European   Christians  makes  one  weep.     In   the 

39    . 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

opinion  of  many,  the  Indians  are  doomed.  Civilization 
seems  to  be  the  enemy  of  the  native  tribes  and  the  recent 
discovery  of  gold  will  prove  fatal  to  the  aborigines.  Chris- 
tianity is  doing  all  it  can ;  but  so  long  as  Christians  are 
greedy  of  filthy  lucre,  we  shall  see  the  sad  spectacle  of  one 
Christian  offering  the  gospel  to  save  the  native's  soul  and 
another  offering  rum  to  destroy  his  body. 

V.  Mission  Work  for  Asiatic  Immigrants. — The 
efforts  of  the  Church  must  now  be  chiefly  directed  toward 
the  Asiatic  nations  who  have  migrated  to  British  Guiana. 
This  work  may  be  divided  into  two  sections,  first,  that  among 
the  Chinese,  and,  second,  that  among  the  East  Indians. 

I.  The  Chinese  have  nearly  all  been  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity and  again  the  honor  of  their  conversion  is  due 
mainly  to  the  efforts  of  the  Church  of  England,  though  the 
Baptists  have  one  or  two  stations.  The  writer  is  able  to 
bear  witness  to  the  power  of  the  gospel  among  this  people. 
At  one  time  in  our  history  they  were  very  troublesome ; 
since  their  conversion  they  are  the  very  best  Christians  in 
the  colony.  The  work  is  being  done  chiefly  through  their 
own  efforts.  They  build  their  churches  and  adorn  them  to 
the  best  of  their  ability ;  they  support  their  own  catechists 
and  are  well  thought  of  by  everybody.  Even  the  press, 
which  is  singularly  adverse  to  missionary  effort,  speaks  well 
of  them  and  the  effect  of  our  work  is  far-reaching.  Thus 
one  of  the  clergy  of  Hongkong  writes  that  one  of  the  best 
catechists  there  is  a  Chinese  Christian  who  had  been  taught 
in  Guiana  and  he  added  :  <*  I  am  hoping  that  as  time  goes 
on  and  others  return  to  China,  we  may  find  more  such 
faithful  workers  as  are  resulting  from  your  work  in  Deme- 
rara."  Not  many  of  our  Chinese  are  now  field  laborers. 
Many  have  become  prominent  merchants  and  others  have 
established  themselves  as  shopkeepers  throughout  the  country. 

40 


BRITISH  GUIANA,  OR  DEMERARA 

2.  The  Indians  have  not  so  readily  embraced  Christianity. 
It  should  be  here  stated  that  about  eighty  per  cent,  of  these 
Asiatics  are  adherents  of  Hinduism,  while  the  remainder  are 
Mohammedans.  The  Mohammedans  glory  in  their  religion 
and  are  doing  what  they  can  to  propagate  their  own  faith. 

In  evangelizing  the  East  Indians  all  denominations  are 
cooperating.  The  Roman  Church  seems  to  have  attracted 
southern  Indians,  although  no  special  organization  is  set  in 
motion  by  them.  The  Presbyterians  have  an  ordained  mis- 
sionary and  several  catechists  in  the  work.  The  Wesleyans 
have  had  two  ordained  missionaries,  but  one  of  these  has 
left  the  field  and  the  other  has  died.  They  still  have  some 
native  catechists  at  work.  Several  of  the  clergy  belonging 
to  the  Church  of  England  are  able  to  speak  at  least  one  dia- 
lect and  there  is  a  native  deacon  besides  a  large  number  of 
catechists  under  the  parochial  clergy ;  but  notwithstanding 
all  these  efforts  and  the  large  amount  of  money  spent  both 
by  the  legislature  and  the  churches,  the  work  has  not  met 
with  any  great  success.  Possibly  the  number  of  Christians 
is  not  two  per  cent,  of  the  East  Indian  population.  These 
people,  however,  would  become  Christians  or  anything  else 
for  a  consideration ;  for  their  besetting  sin  is  that  of  covet- 
ousness.  The  few  Christians  that  we  have  are  not  liberal 
contributors  to  their  church,  while  the  heathen  support  their 
religion  with  some  liberality. 

Hence  it  is  to  the  new  generation  now  growing  up  that 
the  Church  must  attend,  since  it  despises  the  religion  of  the 
fathers  and  it  knows  but  little  of  Christianity.  These  young 
people  are  anxious  to  be  married  ''  English  fashion."  Many 
of  them  would  readily  enough  submit  to  baptism  if  it  did 
not  require  certain  duties.  The  coolies  are  now  likely  to 
settle  in  the  colony,  as  they  make  excellent  laborers  and 
hence  are  good  colonists.     They  are  very  happy  and  very 

41 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

industrious,  and  are  protected  in  every  way  by  the  law.  As 
long  as  they  remain  indentured  on  the  estates  they  are  pro- 
vided with  a  room  or  cottage,  with  free  medicine  and  free 
attendants.  The  planters  are  legally  bound  to  give  them 
work  enough  to  enable  them  to  earn  twenty-four  cents  a 
day,  and  the  immigration  agents  must  see  that  the  work 
given  is  fair.  They  are  thus  more  prosperous  and  happy 
than  when  in  their  own  country.  It  can  readily  be  under- 
stood that  in  a  land  where  the  laws  of  caste  are  disregarded 
and  where  they  are  removed  from  home  influences,  the  work 
of  evangelizing  the  East  Indians  should  be  easier,  compara- 
tively speaking.  The  present  work  must  tell,  and  if  we  all 
labor  in  faith,  it  will  be  our  privilege  to  see  these  British 
Guiana  peoples  gathered  into  the  fold  of  Christ. 


42 


DUTCH  GUIANA,  OR  SURINAM 


Ill 

DUTCH  GUIANA,  OR  SURINAM 

By  Prof.  J.  Taylor  Hamilton 
Bethlehem,  Pa. 

Vice-President  of  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  (Moravian 
Mission  Board). 

1.  Races  of  Surinam. — i.  Enumeration. — The  Mora- 
vian Church  enjoys  the  distinction  of  serving  as  the  sole 
representative  of  evangelical  missions  in  Surinam,  and  here 
seeks  to  evangelize  Indians,  negroes,  and  coolies  from  India 
and  from  China.  The  first  are  the  feeble  remnants  of  Carib 
and  Arawak  tribes  of  practically  no  significance  to-day, 
having  been  supplanted  by  the  more  vigorous  Africans. 
The  third  and  fourth  have  entered  into  the  life  of  Surinam 
only  since  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  in  1863,  being 
imported  as  laborers  on  the  plantations. 

The  number  of  Indians  is  quite  uncertain.  There  may 
be  upwards  of  50,000  persons  of  negro  blood  in  the  city  of 
Paramaribo  and  on  the  plantations.  A  recent  estimate 
placed  the  number  of  coolies  in  the  city  alone  at  20,000. 
These  last  have  brought  in  their  contribution  of  oriental 
superstitions  to  be  grafted  upon  the  fetishism  of  the  Afri- 
cans. 

2.  The  African  Populations. — Two  distinct  divisions 
must  be  recognized  among  the  Africans,  those  living  in 
the  city  of  Paramaribo  and  on  the  plantations  on  the  one 

45 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

hand,  and  the  more  than  half  savage  blacks  of  the  wilder- 
ness, the  ''Bush  Negroes,"  on  the  other  hand.  Already  in 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  runaway  slaves  found 
freedom  in  the  dense  swamps  of  the  interior.  Safe  from 
pursuit  in  these  pestilential  recesses,  their  numbers  increased 
until  war  was  successfully  maintained  against  the  colonial 
forces,  each  tribe  ranged  under  its  own  chief.  Between  the 
years  1760  and  1770  they  finally  gained  the  recognition  of 
their  liberty  and  entered  into  treaties  with  Holland.  In  the 
meantime  they  mercilessly  repressed  the  aboriginal  peoples, 
who  were  less  capable  of  organization.  While  the  barbarism 
and  idolatry  of  Africa  were  restored,  they  have  long  since 
ceased  to  be  a  menace  to  the  colonial  Government,  wise  in 
its  pohcy  of  "  Divide  and  conquer."  Although  the  chief 
of  each  tribe  inherits  his  position  in  accordance  with  peculiar 
negro  ideas — the  son  of  the  eldest  sister  being  the  heir — and 
though  he  enjoys  the  power  of  life  and  death  over  his  sub- 
jects, to  whom  his  will  is  law,  yet  he  requires  the  formal 
recognition  of  the  colonial  authorities  prior  to  entrance  upon 
his  prerogatives.  The  Aukas  or  Djukas  along  the  Marowyne, 
numbering  about  4,000,  constitute  the  most  powerful  of 
these  "Bush  Negro  "  tribes.  The  Saramaccas  are  scarcely 
less  numerous,  scattered  in  their  camps  along  the  upper 
Surinam.  The  Matuaris  and  the  Koffymakas,  along  the 
Saramacca  and  the  Koppename  are  estimated  at  600  and 
400  respectively.  Some  have  placed  the  total  number  of 
Bush  Negroes  at  17,000. 

3.  To  clearly  depict  the  religious  conceptions  of  the  ^'^  Bush 
Negroes "  is  not  easy.  Converts  have  furnished  only 
fragmentary,  and  partly  self-contradictory  data.  Belief  in 
magic  and  witchcraft  and  an  emphasizing  of  the  mysteri- 
ous in  nature  are  inseparable  from  their  cultus.  On  the  one 
hand,  there  are  traces  of  ancestral  worship, — reverence  for 

46 


DUTCH  GUIANA,  OR  SURINAM 

a  tribal  mother  who  came  from  Africa  and,  at  the  time  of  the 
flight  into  the  forest  swamps,  planted  a  sacred  tree,  the  seed 
of  which  she  brought  from  Africa.  These  trees  are  to  be 
found  in  the  distant  forests.  About  them  mysterious  mag- 
ical powers  float.  Sacred  objects  are  buried  at  their  roots. 
From  their  branches,  as  from  an  oracle,  the  tribal  mother 
prophesies.  On  the  other  hand  there  exists  some  notion  of 
a  creator,  Gran-gado  {i.  <?.,  the  great  God).  But  he  has 
withdrawn  from  the  visible  world  and  has  delegated  power  to 
mighty  spirits.  One  spirit  has  power  over  the  forests,  an- 
other over  the  rivers,  another  over  beasts,  etc.  These  spirits 
are  represented  by  larger  and  smaller  idols,  revered  by  single 
families  or  by  whole  villages — tutelary  deities  in  some  cases. 
But  there  are  also  other  evil  spirits,  called  Bakru,  inhabit- 
ing animate  and  inanimate  objects.  They  are  hostile  to 
men,  and  their  ban  can  be  broken  only  by  sorcery.  This 
opens  up  a  sphere  for  the  sorcerers  or  medicine-men. 
Among  the  negroes  of  the  town  and  of  the  plantations 
similar  superstitions  exist,  though  in  a  less  gross  form,  the 
power  of  the  evil  eye,  obeahism  and  witchcraft  which  enter 
into  all  sorts  of  relations  to  the  life  of  those  yet  heathen. 
Immorality  is  the  special  weakness  and  curse  of  the  African 
blood — here  as  elsewhere. 

II.  Moravian  Indian  Missions. — i.  The  work  began 
in  September,  1738,  when  John  Giittner,  and  Christopher 
Dahne  landed  at  New  Amsterdam,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river  Berbice,  in  what  was  then  a  part  of  the  Dutch,  now 
of  the  English,  colony.  He  proceeded  about  seventy  miles 
inland  and  commenced  to  labor  among  the  Arawaks.  A 
couple  of  years  later  a  tract  of  forty-two  acres  was  purchased 
and  the  mission  station  Pilgerhut  was  established.  By  the 
year  1748  forty-one  Indians  had  been  baptized.  Then 
came  Theophilus  Solomon  Schumann,  who  has  been  worthily 

47 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

named  "the  apostle  of  the  Arawaks,"  an  ex-student  of 
Halle,  and  an  ex-professor  in  the  Moravian  seminary  at 
Marienborn.  A  gifted  linguist,  in  half  a  year  he  so  mas- 
tered the  Arawak  tongue  as  to  preach  fluently.  Transla- 
tions of  the  Scriptures  and  of  hymns,  and  the  compilation 
of  a  dictionary  and  of  a  grammar  of  the  Arawak  language 
were  the  fruits  of  his  literary  activity.  By  the  end  of  the 
year  1752  he  baptized  266  Indians  who  settled  at  Pilgerhut. 
Many  others  came  to  hear  him,  from  as  far  as  the  Corentyne 
to  the  east  and  the  Essequibo  and  Orinoco  to  the  west. 
Being  a  practical  man  of  affairs,  he  also  taught  the  nomads 
industry,  and  set  them  an  example  by  cultivating  the  soil. 

2.  In  the  year  1757  ^  second  Indian  mission  was  founded 
at  Sharon  on  the  Saramacca,  and  in  three  years  numbered 
200  souls.  Furthermore  Louis  Christopher  Dahne  pro- 
ceeded to  the  Corentyne,  the  boundary  between  Berbice  and 
Surinam.  For  a  time  he  labored  in  solitude,  and  subject  to 
serious  attacks  of  fever.  Once  as  he  lay  in  his  hammock, 
a  huge  snake  glided  down  from  the  rafters  of  his  hut,  bit 
him  and  then  twined  about  his  body  with  such  force  that 
he  thought  his  end  had  come.  Lest  the  Indians  should  be 
charged  with  his  death,  he  wrote  with  chalk,  **  A  snake  has 
killed  me."  But  then  the  promise,  Mark  xvi.  18,  came 
into  his  mind.  In  the  strength  of  faith  he  tore  the  serpent 
from  him  and  flung  it  out.  The  bite  was  followed  by  no 
evil  effects.  At  another  time  a  troop  of  hostile  Caribs  came, 
weapons  in  hand,  meditating  evil.  But  his  trustful,  open 
countenance  so  disarmed  them,  that  instead  they  presented 
him  with  provisions.    Here  the  station  Ephraim  was  founded. 

But  during  the  absence  of  Schumann  in  Europe,  1758 
to  1760,  retrogression  set  in.  An  infectious  disease  carried 
off  many  converts.  Schumann  himself  died  of  fever, 
October  6,  1760,  soon  after  his  return.     Then  in  1763  the 

48 


DUTCH  GUIANA,  OR  SURINAM 

revolt  of  the  ''Bush  Negroes"  assumed  formidable  propor- 
tions, developing  into  a  war.  The  blacks  were  especially- 
inimical  to  the  Indians.  Pilgerhut  was  burnt  by  them,  and 
never  rebuilt.  Ephraim  had  to  be  abandoned.  In  1761 
Sharon  had  been  burnt  by  the  negroes,  but  was  reoccupied, 
to  be  abandoned  in  1779.  In  place  of  Ephraim,  Hope  was 
founded  in  1765.  Gradually  it  reached  a  population  of  200, 
but  was  burnt  by  an  incendiary  in  1808,  and  efforts  to  re- 
establish the  mission  in  the  vicinity  proved  futile.  The 
nomadic  tendencies  of  the  Indians  were  ineradicable.  Since 
then  only  individual  converts  have  been  won,  but  no  Indian 
mission  has  been  established. 

III.  Negro  Slave  Mission. — i.  This  work  was  now 
growing  in  importance.  As  early  as  1735,  missionary  ex- 
plorers had  been  sent  by  the  Moravian  Church,  but  the 
actual  inception  of  operations  in  Paramaribo  dates  from  the 
year  1754.  The  earliest  missionaries  supported  themselves 
by  conducting  a  bakery  and  a  tailor  shop ;  and  from  that  time 
to  the  present  the  policy  of  maifttaining  the  work  of  evan- 
gelization by  the  prosecution  of  trades  and  industries  has 
been  steadily  employed.  At  present  the  men  in  charge  of 
these  undertakings  are  distinctly  called  to  serve  in  this 
capacity,  quite  separate  from  those  charged  with  the  work 
of  heralding  and  with  the  cure  and  care  of  souls. 

2.  For  many  years  the  early  missionaries  had  to  encounter 
the  active  hostility  of  the  slaveholders,  in  the  city  and  of 
the  planters.  The  first  baptism  took  place  in  the  year  1776. 
Held  as  chattels  and  not  permitted  to  leave  the  estate  to 
which  they  belonged,  the  blacks  could  be  reached  only  by 
means  of  itinerations  rendered  difficult  by  climatic  and 
topographical  conditions.  The  rivers  and  canals  formed  the 
highways,  the  "  coryal  " — a  canoe-like  boat  made  out  of 
the  hollowed  trunk  of  a  tree — being  the  usual  conveyance. 

49 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

When  converts  were  won,  the  obstacles  placed  by  slavery 
in  the  way  of  true  marriage  and  Christian  family  life  pre- 
sented problems  of  immense  difficulty.  With  the  abohtion 
of  slavery  these  did  not  at  once  disappear,  for  the  require- 
ments of  the  '<  civil  marriage "  entailed  costs  too  burden- 
some for  the  blacks  and  those  of  mixed  blood.  What  was 
called  the  ''  Verhond^'  was  devised,  in  order  to  secure  if 
possible  conjugal  fidelity  and  to  add  sanctity  to  a  relation- 
ship which  should  practically  amount  to  marriage  even 
though  certain  legal  requirements  had  been  avoided.  But 
the  unhappy  effects  of  slavery  have  continued,  and  the 
''Verbond,"  though  a  solemn  betrothal,  has  not  been  at- 
tended with  results  altogether  happy.  Nevertheless  the  en- 
deavor to  maintain  a  high  ideal  of  Church  discipline,  in  the 
administration  of  which  the  converts  themselves  participate, 
has  been  steadily  kept  in  view. 

3.  ''Negro-English,"  a  mongrel  dialect,  formed  the /(^«- 
guage  of  these  people  for  years.  Into  it  the  Scriptures  and 
the  hymnal  of  the  Church  and  various  devotional  and  re- 
ligious works  have  been  translated.  But  in  recent  decades 
the  colonial  Government  has  been  insisting  upon  the  employ- 
ment of  Dutch  in  all  schools,  and  in  ever  increasing  num- 
bers the  blacks  and  colored  are  coming  to  enjoy  the  ad- 
vantage of  a  cultured  tongue.  With  it  the  literature  of  a 
nation  opens  up  to  them,  and  with  their  own  advance  in 
culture  their  development  of  a  native  ministry  and  educa- 
tional force  becomes  more  of  a  possibility. 

4.  About  28,000  of  these  people  are  now  members  of  the 
Moravian  Church,  and  here  as  elsewhere  the  policy  of  erect- 
ing a  self-dependent  native  church  is  the  goal  in  view, 
though  as  yet  somewhat  distant.  A  normal  school  has  long 
been  maintained  by  the  mission  in  connection  with  its 
educational  activities,  and  at  present  several  efficient  native 

50 


DUTCH  GUIANA,  OR  SURINAM 

evangelists  are  serving  in  the  interior  of  the  colony.  The 
securing  of  a  native  ministry  is  the  more  imperative  on  ac- 
count of  the  unhealthy  climate  of  Surinam.  The  interior  in 
particular  has  proven  the  graveyard  of  missionaries.  In 
certain  years  epidemics  of  yellow  fever  have  carried  them 
off  in  appalling  numbers.  With  great  reason,  therefore,  the 
hope  is  entertained  that  men  of  African  blood  trained  in  the 
Moravian  Theological  Seminary  at  Buxton  Grove  in  St. 
John's,  on  the  island  of  Antigua,  may  gradually  replace  the 
white  agents  in  Surinam. 

IV.  Missonary  Work  among  Bush  Negroes. — 
I.  Soon  after  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  mis- 
sionary efforts  were  put  forth  by  the  Moravian  Church 
among  the  ''Bush  Negroes"  of  Surinam.  These  are 
hunters  and  fishermen  by  occupation,  superstitious  in  the 
extreme,  but  remarkably  cleanly  in  person — bathing  fre- 
quently and  scouring  their  household  utensils  with  most 
scrupulous  care.  Treacherous  in  the  luxuriant  loveliness 
of  their  vegetation,  the  forests  verified  their  right  to  the 
name  given  them  by  the  Africans  themselves,  who  spoke  of 
the  interior  as  ^^  the  land  of  deaths  To  cut  through  the 
dark,  deep  water  in  the  narrow  ''coryal,"  accompanying 
the  dip  of  the  paddle  with  hymns  of  faith  and  hope,  and  to 
gaze  upon  the  glory  and  wealth  of  tropical  verdure,  might 
be  entrancing.  Wonderfully  formed,  immense,  brilliant 
blossoms  might  hang  upon  creepers,  and  flaming  orchids 
blaze  out  of  the  thick  network  of  growth  along  the  banks. 
The  gigantic  arms  of  the  monarchs  of  the  forests  might  be 
flung  aloft,  to  arch  overhead  and  shade  the  entire  stream. 
And  at  night  to  gather  tHe  wondering  tribe  around  the 
camp-fire  on  the  bank  and  proclaim  the  love  of  the  Saviour 
from  sin,  must  prove  a  stimulating  joy.  But  oh  !  the  peril 
of  it.     Miasma  lurks  everywhere. 

5« 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

2.  Work  in  the  Liter ior. — In  December,  1765,  StoU, 
Jonas  and  Dahne  left  Paramaribo  for  the  interior,  and  en- 
joyed a  friendly  reception  at  the  hands  of  Abini,  chief  of 
the  Saramaccas,  near  where  the  Senthea  empties  into  the 
Surinam.  Within  two  months  fever  claimed  Jonas  as  its 
prey.  Abini  fell  in  war  next  year,  but  his  son  Arabi  took 
his  place  as  the  missionaries'  protector.  Then  Dahne,  a 
veteran  of  thirty  years'  service,  returned  to  Europe.  His 
successor  speedily  sickened.  But  Stoll  maintained  his  post, 
following  Arabi' s  peoples  in  their  wanderings  until  addi- 
tional help  arrived.  At  length,  notwithstanding  scorn  and 
hostihty,  the  first  baptism  took  place  on  January  6,  1771, 
Arabi  himself  being  the  first-fruits  and  receiving  the  name 
of  John.  Gradually  the  Christian  village  of  Bambey  arose 
in  the  tangled  jungle  along  the  upper  Surinam,  while  Stoll 
made  provision  for  its  permanence  by  translating  the  gospels. 
At  length,  on  April  15,  1777,  his  strength  slowly  sapped  by 
fever,  this  indefatigable  herald  was  called  home.  But  his 
memory  still  survives  in  the  primeval  wilderness,  where  men 
yet  speak  with  reverence  of ''Brother  Rudolf,"  or  of  "the 
holy  Rudolf."  Again  and  again  reinforcements  strove  to 
hold  Bambey,  but  fever's  fatal  clutch  strangled  efforts 
which  the  "  Winti-men  " — /.  <?.,  sorcerers — could  not 
thwart.  By  the  year  1818  no  less  than  nine  missionaries 
and  six  wives  of  missionaries  had  perished.  One  hundred 
and  fifty-three  Bush  Negroes  had  been  baptized.  Sadly  the 
Mission  Board  yielded  to  the  inevitable,  and  directed  the 
concentration  of  efforts  within  the  comparatively  healthier 
zone  of  the  city  and  the  plantations. 

Yet  a  number  of  faithful  converts — especially  John  Arabi, 
who  died  in  1821,  Christian  Grego,  Simon  Adoeka  and  a 
crippled  leper  named  Frederick — maintained  Christian 
fellowship    and    devotions.      Repeatedly   they  sent    peti- 

53 


DUTCH  GUIANA,  OR  SURINAM 

tions  to  the  city,  and  at  last,  after  occasional  visits  on  the 
part  of  missionaries,  the  7nission  was  reviewed  by  Rasmus 
Schmidt  in  1840 — not  at  either  Old  or  New  Bambey,  but  at 
Gingee,  or  Aurora,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Surinam. 
Blessed  with  marked  success,  his  labors  were  cut  short  in 
April,  1845.  For  ten  months  his  lonely  widow  heroically 
maintained  the  post  alone,  teaching  the  school  and  conduct- 
ing public  services.  Fever  again  cut  short  the  career  of 
Schmidt's  successor,  Meissner,  and  this  led  to  a  transfer  of 
the  site  of  the  mission  to  Gansee,  nearer  the  city.  But  the 
same  sad  experiences  followed  here.  Missionary  after  mis- 
sionary sickened  and  died,  or  had  to  withdraw. 

One  heroic  effort,  however,  can  never  be  forgotten  in  the 
Bush  country  of  Surinam.  Mary  Hartmann  came  to  this 
colony  in  1826,  and  served  with  her  husband  in  Paramaribo 
and  elsewhere  till  his  death  in  1844.  In  1848  she  volun- 
teered to  go  alone  to  Bergendal,  on  the  upper  Surinam, 
where  a  small  mission  had  been  established,  but  whence  the 
workers  had  been  unavoidably  withdrawn.  Here  she  min- 
istered like  a  prophetess.  Occasionally  she  ventured  into 
the  land  of  the  Bush  Negroes,  and  after  the  people  of  Bambey 
were  left  without  a  missionary,  removed  thither,  voluntarily 
cutting  herself  off  from  intercourse  with  whites.  Only  once, 
for  one  single  day,  during  the  ensuing  four  years,  did  she 
visit  her  fellow-workers  in  the  city,  restricting  her  visit  in 
this  manner  lest  by  reason  of  attachment  to  them  she  might 
become  unwilling  to  return  to  the  wilderness.  With  the 
patience  of  a  saint  she  kept  alive  the  spark  of  religious  life 
among  the  blacks,  and  maintained  Bambey  as  a  Christian 
village  amid  the  wilderness  of  heathendom.  Industries  were 
promoted, — the  manufacture  of  earthenware  and  of  cotton 
goods, — and  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life  was  led.  But  on 
December  30,  1853,  this  heroine,  too,  was  overcome  by  the 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

hardships  of  her  situation,  having  been  brought  to  Paramaribo 
just  in  time  to  bid  her  former  associates  farewell.  Latterly 
elephantiasis  had  been  her  cross. 

3.  At  prese7it  the  Moravian  Church  maintains  missions 
among  the  Bush  Negroes  along  the  Coppename,  the 
Saramacca,  the  Surinam,  and  the  Marowyne  rivers.  In 
the  wider  extension  of  this  work  a  remarkable  man  of  the 
Matuari  tribe,  John  King,  awakened  by  dreams  about  the 
year  i860,  and  savingly  converted  after  his  removal  to  the 
city,  proved  especially  instrumental.  For  more  than  thirty- 
five  years  his  apostolic  labors  among  various  tribes  of  his 
fellow-countrymen  were  a  marked  feature  of  missionary 
activity  in  Surinam.     He  died  in  the  autumn  of  1899. 

V.  Work  for  Coolies  and  Lepers. — i.  The  mission 
among  the  coolies  in  the  city  of  Paramaribo  and  on  the 
neighboring  plantations  is  of  comparatively  recent  origin. 
Large  numbers  cannot  yet  be  reported.  Specially  efficient 
service  is  being  rendered  by  one  of  these  converts,  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  by  name,  as  an  evangelist  among  his  fellow 
Asiatics. 

2.  Recently,  moreover,  a  special  phase  of  philanthropic 
labor  is  the  maintenance  of  a  hospital  for  lepers  at  Groot 
Chatillon,  manned  by  Moravian  trained  nurses  and  minis- 
tered to  by  a  Moravian  chaplain.  A  chapel  and  missionary's 
home  have  been  erected  adjacent  to  the  buildings  where  the 
lepers  are  housed. 

VL  Statistics. — The  latest  are  as  follows :  mission  sta- 
tions, 20;  out-stations,  18;  European  missionaries,  male 
and  female,  90 ;  native  assistants  who  conduct  services  and 
preach,  46;  day-schools,  23;  teachers,  84;  scholars,  2,737; 
communicants  in  good  standing,  8,301 ;  baptized  adults  not 
yet  admitted  to  full  membership,  8,833;  ^^^"^  membership, 
including  children,  29,381 ;  total  cost,  ^63,850. 

54 


DUTCH  GUIANA,  OR  SURINAM 

VII.  Difficulties. — i.  Surinam  presents  an  open  door 
to  missionary  endeavor.  But  hindrances  are  not  wanting, 
apart  from  the  deadly  character  of  the  chmate,  particularly 
in  the  interior.  Among  the  hindrances  the  proselytism  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  to  be  placed  in  the  forefront. 
The  pomp  of  its  ritual  appeals  to  the  barbaric  taste  of  the 
African  and  of  the  Indian  still  more.  Its  easy  methods  in 
regard  to  baptism  and  the  superficial  demands  it  makes  in 
the  sphere  of  practical  morals,  allure.  It  understands  how 
to  impose  its  demands  upon  the  colonial  Government,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  it  can  claim  only  a  fourth  of  the 
Christian  population  of  the  colony. 

2.  A  second  hindrance  in  the  way  of  the  thorough  Chris- 
tianization  of  the  land  from  the  evangelical  standpoint,  is 
the  reluctance  of  the  negro  to  submit  to  the  requirements 
of  strictly  monogamous  and  permanent  marriage  ties,  doubt- 
less a  sad  inheritance  from  the  days  of  slavery.  Church 
discipline  is  rendered  peculiarly  difficult  thereby.  Never- 
theless fidelity  to  the  truth  requires  the  glad  testimony 
that  the  religious  consciousness  of  the  negro  population  of 
Surinam  in  this  and  other  respects  is  steadily  advancing  and 
deepening. 

The  Lord,  whose  is  the  work,  can  and  will  make  a  way 
through  all  obstacles.     To  Him  be  the  glory ! 


55 


BRAZIL 


IV 

BRAZIL 
By  Rev.  H.  C.  Tucker 

Rio  de  Janeiro. 
For  Fourteen  Years  a  Missionary  in  Brazil. 

Occupying  as  it  does  nearly  half  the  area  of  South 
America  and  possessing  about  thirty-eight  per  cent,  of  its 
population,  Brazil  will  naturally  be  discussed  at  greater 
length  than  other  South  American  countries. 

I.  Discovery  and  Subsequent  History. — i.  Period 
of  Discovery  and  Settletnent  {1500-1646). — Discovered  400 
years  ago  by  Pinzon,  the  Spanish  companion  of  Columbus, 
and  later  in  the  same  year,  1500,  by  Cabral,  a  Portuguese  nav- 
igator, Brazil,  ''The  Land  of  the  True  Cross,"  was  for  three 
centuries  Portugal's  largest  possession.  Expeditions  for  dis- 
covery, colonization  by  means  of  deported  criminals  and 
Jews  under  the  charge  of  heads  of  ''captaincies,"  and  wars 
with  French,  Dutch  and  Spanish  intruders,  are  the  leading 
secular  characteristics  of  the  first  140  years  of  European  oc- 
cupation. The  coming  of  the  Jesuits,  who  befriended  and 
trained  the  oppressed  aborigines,  and  who  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  the  stronger  Brazilian  character  in  their  once 
famous  Sao  Paulo  College,  is  the  leading  religious  element 
of  this  period.  Compliant  and  grateful  natives  readily  ac- 
cepted the  thin  but  gorgeous  veneer  of  Roman  Christianity 
from  ecclesiastics  of  various  orders,  and  Portuguese  inter- 
marriage with  their  women  gave  rise  to  the  present  sub- 

59 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

stratum  of  Brazilian  society,  a  hybrid  both  in  religion  and 
race. 

2.  Period  of  Development  {1640-1822). — Seizure  of 
Portugal's  possessions  by  Philip  XL,  of  Spain,  and  Dutch 
reprisals  in  Brazil,  due  to  Philip's  hostility,  had  for  years 
seriously  interfered  with  Brazilian  growth.  When  in  1640, 
Portugal  regained  her  independence,  accelerated  progress 
was  begun.  In  1680  the  Jesuit  defenders  of  the  Indians 
saw  the  end  of  Indian  slavery,  decreed  by  the  Pope  forty 
years  before,  though  its  abolition  was  largely  due  to  the  fact 
that  negro  slaves  from  Africa  were  more  efficient.  The  cul- 
tivation of  cotton,  tobacco  and  sugar  cane,  and  the  intro- 
duction of  coffee  proved  the  justification  of  this  first  South 
American  agricultural  colony.  The  discovery  of  gold  and 
diamonds  still  further  stimulated  the  country's  growth. 

As  an  offset  to  this  prosperity,  Lamoureux  mentions  some 
obstacles  to  progress  :  "  The  colonial  system  of  Portugal 
was  one  of  selfish  exclusion  and  greedy  extortion.  The 
colony  was  rigidly  closed  to  foreigners;  industry  was 
burdened  by  restrictions  and  monopolies;  the  taxes  were 
farmed  out ;  the  authorities  were  arbitrary  and  grasping ; 
the  administration  of  justice  was  slow  and  corrupt ;  print- 
ing was  forbidden ;  the  people  were  grossly  ignorant, 
turbulent  and  immoral;  and  internal  communication  was 
slow  and  difficult. ' ' 

The  Jesuits  and  their  sworn  enemy,  Pombal,  by  whom 
they  were  expelled  from  the  country  in  1760,  were  the  lead- 
ing spirits  during  this  time.  The  educated  youth,  who  had 
been  inspired  by  the  heroes  of  the  new  republic  in  North 
America  to  unite  in  the  conspiracy  of  Minas  in  1789  were 
the  heralds  of  the  empire  and  of  the  present  republic. 

At  the  close  of  this  period  came  the  unique  spectacle  of  a 
colony  becoming   the   seat  of  government   of  the  mother 

60 


BRAZIL 

country.  This  was  due  to  Napoleon's  conquest  of  Portugal, 
which  necessitated  the  flight  of  the  Court  to  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
which  they  reached  in  1808.  From  that  moment  the  de- 
structive restrictions  named  above  disappeared  and  the  new 
regime  began. 

3.  The  Empire  {i822-i88g). — Upon  the  return  of  the 
court  to  Portugal  in  1821  the  government  was  left  in  the 
hands  of  the  prince-regent,  who  a  year  later  declared 
Brazilian  independence,  and  was  crov/ned  emperor  as  Dom 
Pedro  I.  Nine  stormy  years  followed,  during  which  re- 
publican sentiments  kept  the  emperor  perpetually  on  the 
anxious  seat,  while  the  prohibition  of  the  slave-trade  brought 
his  reign  much  honor.  Succumbing  in  1831,  his  son  suc- 
ceeded him  as  the  second  and  last  Emperor  of  Brazil. 

The  liberal  and  progressive  reig7t  of  Dom  Pearo  II.  was 
marked  by  social  reforms,  increasing  commercial  and 
diplomatic  intercourse  with  other  nations,  the  introduction 
of  large  German  colonies  and  other  foreigners,  the  abolition 
of  slavery,  and  the  aggressive  work  of  Protestant  missions. 
This  latter  element  had  already  modified  one  of  the  greatest 
hindrances  to  the  social  and  intellectual  progress  of  the 
nation,  the  obnoxious  system  of  priestcraft,  which  held  in 
its  boa  grasp  the  whole  political  and  social  body  of  the 
Empire. 

4.  The  United  States  of  Brazil  {i88g  —).— Largely 
as  a  result  of  the  loathing  felt  for  corrupt  Catholicism  and 
of  the  growing  spirit  of  liberty,  Positivism  was  welcomed 
and  rapidly  grew  in  strength.  Leaders  in  army  and  navy 
were  infected  with  Comte's  ideas.  A  leading  Positivist, 
Benjamin  Constant,  honored  as  **  Founder  of  the  Republic," 
and  his  friends,  brought  the  old  order  to  an  end  in  1889, 
and  proclaimed  the  southern  United  States  under  a  con- 
stitution almost  identical  with  that  of  its  northern  namesake. 

61 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Naturally  positivistic  ideas  are  prominent  in  the  present 
system  of  laws.  Some  early  enactments  wrought  havoc  to 
the  national  financial  system,  while  others  were  of  the 
utmost  benefit.  Thus  the  absolute  separation  of  Church 
and  State,  the  secularization  of  cemeteries,  the  institution  of 
civil  marriage,  larger  freedom  of  worship,  and  others  of 
similar  import  are  of  this  number.  That  the  State  could 
deal  thus  with  the  Church,  her  sacraments  and  institutions, 
was  a  revelation  that  astounded  many  and  disturbed  the 
whole  social  and  religious  sentiment  of  the  people.  Thou- 
sands began  to  realize  that  the  Church,  which  they  had 
always  bowed  before  as  a  great  mystery  and  obeyed  as  being 
absolute  in  authority  and  power,  could  not  in  reality  be  the 
thing  they  had  been  taught  to  believe  she  was.  These 
advanced  measures  gave  a  wider  scope  to  personal  and 
religious  liberty  and  worship.  Investigation  and  inquiry 
were  awakened.  A  wider  door  was  opened  for  Bible  distri- 
bution, and  for  all  Protestant  evangelistic  efforts  and  enter- 
prises. 

Under  Dr.  Campos  SaleSy  who  assumed  the  presidency 
in  1898,  the  financial  condition  of  the  country  has  begun  to 
improve.  The  Administration  seems  to  be  making  economies 
and  is  trying  to  meet  foreign  obligations,  and  on  the  whole  the 
outlook  is  more  favorable  for  a  stable  government.  Much 
has  been  done  during  the  last  ten  years  to  develop  national 
industries  and  enterprises. 

II.  The  Peoples  of  Brazil. — Intermarriage  and  con- 
stant association  of  the  Brazilian  races  make  it  impossible 
to  do  more  than  broadly  indicate  some  prevailing  character- 
istics of  the  people. 

I.  General  Statements. — A  Brazilian  authority,  J. 
Batalha-Reis,  estimates  that  after  four  centuries  of  contact 
this  mixture  of  races  exists  in  the  following  relative  propor- 

62 


BRAZIL 

tions  :  Europeans,  more  or  less  pure,  thirty-eight  per  cent. ; 
negroes,  twenty  per  cent. ;  pure  Americans  (Caboclos),  four 
per  cent. ;  mixed  Americans  (Pardos),  thirty-eight  per  cent. 

He  further  writes :  "  Many  Indian  tribes,  still  living  in 
a  state  of  native  savagery,  have  never  entered  the  Brazilian 
statistics,  and  are  not  taken  account 'of.  Towards  the  end 
of  the  sixteenth  century  the  population  of  Brazil  was  esti- 
mated at  some  60,000.  In  18 19  the  first  census  showed 
4,000,000  inhabitants,  while  in  1890  the  population  num- 
bered about  15,000,000,  having  thus  apparently  quadrupled 
in  seventy  years.  In  the  last  ten  years  the  population  has 
remained  almost  stationary  in  the  north  and  centre,  but  has 
doubled  in  the  south. 

"  The  iinmigrantSy  who  form  a  great  part  of  this  increase, 
were  principally  Portuguese  and  Spanish.  Italians  have 
predominated  during  recent  years,  and  have  especially 
settled  in  the  temperate  southern  states,  Sao  Paulo  and 
Rio  de  Janeiro.  In  the  south  also  some  German  agricul- 
tural and  pastoral  colonies  have  been  established. 

"  These  settlers  continue  to  a  certain  extent  to  use  their 
own  languages  ;  but  the  official  language  of  the  country  is 
Portuguese,  although  considerably  modified."  To  this 
should  be  added  a  statement  of  Rev.  J.  B.  Howell :  **  As 
French  is  considered  a  necessary  part  of  a  liberal  education, 
and  is  very  similar  to  the  Portuguese,  all  the  professional 
men  read  it,  and  generally  more  than  half  the  books  on  their 
shelves  are  in  that  language,  while  French  novels  of  all  sorts 
form  the  staple  literary  diet  of  all  the  ladies  of  the  wealthier 
classes." 

2.  The  Whites. — The  earliest  colonists,  as  we  have  seen, 
were  adventurers,  criminals  taken  from  the  dungeon  and  put 
on  board  ship  in  irons,  and  Jews  exiled  by  the  Inquisition. 
These  men  were  for  the  most  part  of  the  viler  class  of 

63 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Europeans,  and  intermarriage  with  the  aborigines  did  not 
improve  their  quaUty.  After  the  coming  of  the  Portuguese 
Court  to  Rio,  in  1808,  a  multitude  of  Portugal's  best  citizens 
emigrated  to  Brazil,  and  from  that  time  a  better  element  has 
continued  to  come  hither.  Recent  immigrants  have  still 
further  improved  the  character  of  the  population.  Of  the 
52,536  immigrants  of  1898,  about  ninety-nine  per  cent, 
were  Roman  Catholics,  so  that  Catholicism  is  thus  being 
yearly  added  to. 

Rev.  Mr.  Howell  has  thus  characterized  them:  "The 
Brazilian  people  are  in  general  hospitable,  generous,  char- 
itable, gay,  courteous,  communicative,  quick  at  learning, 
rather  fond  of  show,  somewhat  ceremonious  and  proud, 
rather  inclined  to  look  down  on  labor  and  laborers,  but  with 
a  remarkable  suavity  and  a  native  politeness  which  is  as 
general  in  the  lowest  as  in  the  highest  classes.  Though  not 
as  excitable  as  the  Spanish,  there  is  still  a  strong  element  of 
jealousy  in  their  disposition,  and  a  tendency  to  vindictive- 
ness. 

^^  Physically  the  typical  Brazilian  is  small  of  stature, 
with  .  .  .  nervous  and  bilious  temperament,  bloodless 
and  sallow  complexion,  and  a  generally  emaciated  and  worn- 
out  look.  .  .  .  The  general  loose  ideas  in  regard  to 
the  marriage  relation,  together  with  the  universally  immoral 
lives  even  of  the  priests  .  .  .  have  undermined  the 
physical  health  of  the  people,  while  sowing  the  seeds  of  dis- 
ease which  more  and  more  incapacitate  them  for  the  work 
yet  to  be  done  in  developing  the  immense  resources  of  this 
magnificent  country. 

*'  Intellectually,  even  among  the  better  educated,  there  is  an 
apathy  which  is  manifest  in  science,  politics  and  religion. 
Rome  has  persistently  repressed  speculation  and  independence 
of  thought  till  now  the  people  are  intellectual  sluggards. 

64 


BRAZIL 

Because  of  this  apathy  there  is  the  utmost  indifference  in 
most  men  concerning  national  interests  and  poHcies. 

'*Lack  of  conscientiousness  is  said  to  be  the  leading 
moral  defect  of  the  Brazilians,  while  reverence  for  ecclesias- 
tical tradition  is  an  equal  obstacle.  This  latter  characteristic 
not  only  stands  in  the  way  of  their  accepting  a  new  and  true 
view  of  life,  but  is  equally  unfortunate  in  its  economical 
effect,  since  it  prevents  the  use  of  new  methods,  machines, 
etc." 

3.  The  Blacks. — Negro  importation  was  early  begun,  a 
slave  being  offered  for  a  hatchet  as  early  as  15 16.  Sixty 
years  ago  they  were  so  numerous  and  inexpensive  that  "it 
was  considered  cheaper  to  use  up  a  slave  in  five  or  seven 
years  and  purchase  another  than  to  take  care  of  him."  A 
Brazilian  writer  has  said  that  the  negroes  form  the  most 
robust  race  of  Brazil,  and  that  a  larger  proportion  of  them 
preserve  themselves  pure  from  intermarriage  than  any  of  the 
other  races.  Previous  to  their  emancipation  they  were 
mainly  in  the  cotton,  sugar  and  coffee  districts ;  since  then 
they  have  scattered  over  the  entire  country  and  are  especially 
numerous  in  villages  and  towns.  The  features  differentiat- 
ing them  from  the  negroes  of  the  United  States  are  mainly 
due  to  the  vast  differences  in  the  social,  intellectual  and 
religious  influences  surrounding  them. 

The  Roniaii  religion  has  accommodated  itself  to  the 
pagan  superstitions  and  practices  and  to  the  idolatrous  ten- 
dencies of  the  negroes.  The  teaching  of  rewards  and  pun- 
ishments, which  has  had  such  a  wholesome  effect  upon  the 
North  American  negroes,  has  been  lacking  in  this  country. 
There  are  certain  privileges  and  harmless  enjoyments  con- 
nected with  the  superstitions  of  the  Catholic  Church  which 
have  been  readily  entered  into  by  the  negroes,  but  which 
have  not  had  any  specially  enlightening  or  elevating  effect 

65 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

upon  them.  Our  Lady  of  the  Rosary  is  the  peculiar  patron 
saint  of  the  blacks;  she  is  sometimes  painted  as  a 
negress.  While  it  is  true  that  the  mass  of  the  blacks  have 
become  nominally  Roman  Catholics,  or  rather  baptized 
pagans,  yet  many  still  follow  the  superstitions  and  fetishism 
of  their  African  ancestors. 

4.  Aboriginal  Races. — Nine  principal  groups  are  found 
in  Brazil,  their  main  habitat  being  in  the  northern  prov- 
inces. They  are  for  the  most  part  of  a  copper  color,  of 
medium  height,  rather  heavy  set,  with  thick  chests,  and  are 
very  muscular.  They  are  generally  apathetic  and  unde- 
monstrative. The  tribes  are  not  specially  settled,  and  yet  are 
not  habitually  and  widely  nomadic.  The  country,  well 
watered,  abounds  in  the  plantain,  banana,  yam,  mandioca 
root,  a  great  variety  of  vegetable  palms,  etc.,  as  well  as  in 
great  quantities  of  game  and  fish  ;  hence  these  tribes  have 
never  felt  the  necessity  of  that  mental  effort  and  the  exertion 
for  existence  which  tends  to  civilization.  A  prominent 
Brazilian  who  has  given  much  time  to  travel  and  study 
among  the  wild  tribes  in  recent  years  finds,  as  he  thinks, 
traces  of  a  cross  with  the  white  race  even  more  remote  than 
that  found  in  the  Incas  of  Peru. 

When  we  consider  the  social  and  moral  characteristics 
of  these  savages,  we  find  some  evidences  of  the  existence  of 
the  family  idea,  marriage  customs,  etc.  Many  of  them  have 
been  very  warlike,  ferocious,  vengeful  and  bloodthirsty. 
Some  of  them  were  known  to  be  cannibals  and  ate  their 
enemies  with  great  ceremony ;  some  even  made  war  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  human  food,  while  others  are  said  to 
have  eaten  their  relatives  and  friends  as  a  mark  of  honor 
and  distinguished  consideration.  The  most  generally  pre* 
vailing  religious  belief  among  them  is  that  there  are  three 
great  or  chief  gods,  the  sun,  god  of  the  animal  kingdom,  the 

66 


BRAZIL 

moon,  god  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  and  Ruda,  tlie  god  of 
love,  or  of  all  reproduction.  Besides  these  they  seem  to 
have  a  multitude  of  subordinate  and  inferior  gods  for  vari- 
ous purposes.  Their  burial  custom  of  depositing  at  the 
grave  the  bow  and  arrow  and  vessels  in  which  they  prepare 
food  would  indicate  that  they  have  some  idea  of  immortal- 
ity, or  of  a  future  state  of  existence.  A  curious  custom  ob- 
served in  some  tribes  bears  evidence  of  this  belief  among 
them ;  when  a  person  dies  a  certain  number  of  his  friends 
and  relatives,  as  nearly  as  may  be  of  his  own  age,  are 
hanged  that  he  may  have  suitable  company  in  the  next 
world. 

III.  Conditions  Bearing  on  Protestant  Missions. — 
I .  Social  Conditions. — The  amalgamation  of  the  three  races 
above  referred  to  has  been  going  on  in  Brazil  for  four  hun- 
dred years  under  circumstances  which  have  given  rise  to  a 
variety  of  social  conditions.  As  we  are  writing  for  those 
whose  desire  it  is  to  come  into  personal  contact  with  each 
individual  of  this  mass  for  the  purpose  of  delivering  a  mes- 
sage from  God,  we  may  call  attention  to  such  customs  and 
characteristics  as  bear  directly  upon  this  mission. 

The  last  census y  taken  in  1890,  gave  the  following : 
whites,  6,302,198;  blacks,  2,097,426;  Indians,  1,295,  796; 
and  mixed  races,  4,638,495.  It  is  generally  believed  that 
thousands  of  quadroons,  octoroons  and  other  degrees  of 
mixed  bloods  were  classified  as  whites.  Doubtless  a  strictly 
correct  report  would  greatly  reduce  the  figures  in  the  white 
column  and  very  materially  increase  that  of  the  mixed.  If 
we  estimate  the  population  in  the  year  1900  at  17,000,000, 
which  many  think  fairly  correct  and  reasonable,  I  suppose  a 
correct  division  or  classification  would  be :  whites,  6,000,- 
000;  blacks,  2,200,000;  Indians,  1,300,000;  and  mixed 
races,  7,500,000.     Of  the  Indians  it  may  be  estimated  that 

67 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

about  500,000  are  at  least  partly  civilized,  while  about  800,- 
000  are  still  in  the  wild  state.  Many  think  there  are  not 
more  than  3,000,000  persons  of  purely  white  race  in  the 
country. 

In  a  general  way  there  is  free  intercourse  and  marriage 
between  the  whites,  blacks,  domesticated  Indians  and  the 
mixed  population,  and  they  mingle  together  freely  and  are 
at  peace  with  each  other.  Such  being  the  case,  the  race  or 
color  Ime  is  not  one  that  need  specially  affect  the  work  of 
the  Protestant  missionary.  In  the  latter  days  of  the  Empire 
the  prime  minister  was  of  this  mixed  race,  and  the  intimate 
friend  and  music  teacher  of  the  princess  was  a  mulatto. 
The  descendants  of  this  amalgamation  are  to  be  seen  in  all 
positions  in  society.  State  and  Church.  There  exists  with 
some  a  strong  race  prejudice,  or  a  conviction  that  it  is  better 
for  humanity  that  the  races  exist  separate  and  distinct  from 
each  other.  As  yet  this  has  not  been  found  a  serious  prob- 
lem to  disturb  the  missionary;  still,  he  may  find  here  a 
fruitful  field  for  observation  and  study  as  he  tries  to  develop 
a  higher  state  of  moral  and  religious  life. 

In  society  generally  the  influences  of  priestcraft,  the  con- 
vent, slavery  and  other  conditions  have  tended  to  give  much 
seclusion  to  the  female  portion  of  the  family.  Some  think, 
and  perhaps  it  is  true  in  a  measure,  that  this  seclusion  is 
traceable  to  the  Moorish  manners  of  the  remote  ancestors 
of  the  whites,  relics  of  which  manners  existed  in  Portugal  as 
well  as  in  her  colonies.  In  many  places,  especially  in  the 
country,  the  wife  and  daughters  never  appear  at  the  table  if 
a  stranger  or  other  than  very  near  relatives  are  present.  A 
writer  has  said:  ''Habits  of  such  hateful  and  dissocializing 
jealousy  presuppose  a  strong  inclination  to  licentiousness, 
and  certainly  tend  to  excite  it. ' '  But  it  must  not  be  inferred 
from  this  that  the  married  women  are  generally  dissolute. 

68 


BRAZIL 

With  many  it  has  been  considered  meritorious  in  the  hus- 
band to  murder  his  wife  for  unfaithfulness.  History  states 
that  in  one  year  in  the  city  of  Bahia  there  were  reported 
thirty-five  such  murders.  The  case  is  not  so  with  the  hus- 
band. He  may  prove  unfaithful  every  day  to  his  marriage 
vows  and  yet  he  is  none  the  less  respectable  in  society,  and 
the  poor  woman  who  may  be  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  his 
wife,  or  rather  his  slave,  dares  not  open  her  mouth.  The 
official  statistics  show  that  in  the  year  1890  there  were  living 
2,603,489  persons,  or  more  than  one-sixth  of  the  entire 
population  of  the  country,  who  were  born  out  of  wedlock. 
Certain  Catholic  hospitals  have  an  opening  in  the  wall  next 
to  the  street  with  a  kind  of  wheel  arrangement  where  these 
illegitimate  and  abandoned  babes  may  be  deposited  under 
the  cover  of  night,  taken  in  and  cared  for.  The  census  re- 
ferred to  shows  that  12,265  then  living  had  been  deposited 
in  these  wheels  and  so  brought  up.  Prostitution  is  glaring 
and  wide-spread,  especially  in  the  towns  and  cities.  The 
priests  have  been  so  unfaithful  to  their  vows  of  celibacy  and 
so  immoral,  and  the  men  generally  so  profligate  as  to  fill 
society  with  infidelity  and  suspicion. 

Of  course  with  the  entrance  of  light  and  learning  this 
state  of  things  is  being  somewhat  modified,  and  there  has 
always  been  an  element  of  purer  and  higher  moral  worth  in 
society.  These  conditions  make  apparent  the  great  need  of 
the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  among  the  people,  and  they  make 
apparent  also  the  great  need  and  the  great  opportunity  for 
women  missionaries  and  their  school  work.  It  is  very 
noticeable  that  missionaries  and  their  work  have  had  a  very 
considerable  influence  in  bettering  the  state  of  society  where 
they  have  come  in  close  contact  with  the  people  for  several 
years.  To-day  there  is  greater  freedom  in  the  family  and 
easier  access  to  the  family  circle,  while  women  and  girls  are 

69 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

seen  more  frequently  on  the  streets.  The  street-car,  rail- 
roads and  other  modern  inventions  and  influences  of  Chris- 
tian civilization  are  also  greatly  effecting  Brazilian  life. 

There  are  noble  elements  of  Brazilian  character  notwith- 
standing the  many  defects.  They  are  generally  hospitable, 
friendly,  generous,  and  show  great  respect  and  deference  to 
the  stranger  who  comes  into  their  midst,  especially  if  he  is 
a  traveller.  If  he  locates  for  the  purpose  of  developing  some 
industry  or  starting  some  new  enterprise  they  may  often  be- 
come jealous  and  suspicious.  These  noble  elements  of 
hospitality  and  generosity  under  gospel  influences  become 
prominent  and  powerful  factors  in  the  development  of 
Christian  character. 

2.  Political  Conditions. — Perfect  religious  liberty  and 
freedom  of  worship  are  guaranteed  by  the  constitution,  and 
no  man  is  debarred  from  any  office  in  the  Republic  because 
of  his  religious  belief.  There  are  at  present  no  great  politi- 
cal complications  to  materially  effect  the  work  and  develop- 
ment of  Protestant  missions  in  the  country.  Disturbances 
are  usually  of  short  duration,  though  they  may  be  frequent. 
At  such  times  missions,  like  all  the  institutions  and  interests 
of  the  country,  may  suffer  temporary  suspension  or  inter- 
ruption ;  but  there  is  not  likely  to  be  anything  like  political 
interference  with  the  missionaries  and  their  enterprises.  At 
present  there  is  a  general  feehng  that  the  Republic  has 
made  progress  recently  in  the  better  management  of  its 
finances,  and  there  is  hope  for  greater  stability.  The  nat- 
ural resources  and  wealth  of  the  country  are  guarantees 
against  any  permanent  backset  from  disturbances  caused  by 
extravagance  and  dishonesty.  From  a  missionary's  stand- 
point there  is  not  much  hope  for  a  better  Government  until 
better  men  are  made  to  administer  it. 

3 .  Intellectual  Life  of  Brazil.  — In  the  sketch  of  the  races 

70 


BRAZIL 

now  mingling  together  in  Brazilian  society,  the  student  has 
had  occasion  to  note  some  of  the  intellectual  elements  enter- 
ing into  the  composition  of  this  people. 

l^YiQ  first  College  in  Brazil  vfd^s  estabHshed  in  1583  by 
Nobrega,  the  chief  of  the  Jesuits,  on  the  plains  of  Piratin- 
inga,  in  what  is  now  the  state  of  Sao  Paulo.  As  the  first 
mass  was  celebrated  on  the  feast  of  the  conversion  of  St. 
Paul,  they  gave  the  college  his  name.  The  spot  has  be- 
come famous  in  Brazilian  history,  and  both  the  city  and  the 
state  have  the  name  of  Sao  Paulo.  One  of  the  first  teachers 
was  the  famous  Anchieta,  who  thus  describes  this  early  be- 
ginning:  **Here  we  are,  sometimes  more  than  twenty  of 
us,  in  a  little  hut  of  wicker  work  and  mud,  roofed  wdth 
straw,  fourteen  paces  long  and  ten  wide.  This  is  the  school, 
this  is  the  infirmary,  dormitory,  refectory,  kitchen,  store- 
room." It  is  stated  that  they  had  many  scholars,  both 
Creoles  and  Mamalucas.  Anchieta  taught  these  savages 
Latin,  and  learned  from  them  their  language.  There  were 
no  books,  and  he  wrote  for  each  one  his  lesson  on  a  sepa- 
rate sheet.  He  composed  a  vocabulary  and  a  grammar  of 
the  dialect  of  these  natives,  parodied  into  hymns  in  Portu- 
guiese  many  of  their  profane  songs,  and  devised  terms  for 
teaching  them  the  principles  of  the  Catholic  faith.  He 
especially  emphasized  the  frantic  folly  of  Catholicism  that 
self-torture  is  a  Christian  virtue,  and  made  the  scholars  flog 
themselves  every  Friday.  Had  the  basal  principles  of  this 
remarkable  and  heroic  teacher  been  those  of  the  pure  gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ,  the  intellectual,  moral  and  religious  condi- 
tion of  Brazil  to-day  would  doubtless  be  vastly  better  than 
it  is.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  this  early 
movement  has  exercised  a  most  beneficial  influence  over  the 
whole  social  system  of  Brazil.  It  is  a  suggestive  fact  that 
the  city  of  Sao  Paulo  to-day  is  the  centre  of  the  most  ad- 

71 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

vanced  system  of  education  to  be  found  in  the  whole  country. 
And  we  note  in  passing  that  the  Presbyterian  mission  has 
built  its  largest  plant  and  is  putting  forth  its  strongest  edu- 
cational effort  in  this  city,  while  their  native  church  has 
established  here  also  its  Theological  Seminary.  From  Sao 
Paulo  knowledge  and  civilization  have  been  diffused  through- 
out the  country ;  and  from  this  centre  have  come  many  of 
Brazil's  leading  scholars,  statesmen,  and  hardiest,  manliest 
citizens. 

As  we  have  not  space  to  follow  the  entire  history  of  edu- 
cation in  Brazil,  we  may  bring  the  present  state  of  things 
to  the  student's  mind  by  giving  the  latest  official  statistics 
and  by  stating  a  few  facts.  The  census  of  1890  showed 
that  only  about  fifteen  per  cent,  of  the  entire  population 
could  read  and  write.  There  are  at  present  some  400,000 
foreigners  in  Brazil,  of  whom  sixty  per  cent,  are  educated. 
This  reduces  the  rate  for  Brazilians  to  about  fourteen  per 
cent.  If  we  take  the  Brazilians  by  sexes,  eighteen  per  cent, 
of  the  men  are  educated,  while  only  about  ten  per  cent,  of 
the  women  can  read  and  write.  If  we  make  the  most 
liberal  estimate  that  there  are  at  present  3,000,000  persons 
in  Brazil  who  can  read  and  write,  we  still  have  14,000,000 
who  have  no  knowledge  of  letters.  Of  this  number  a  little 
more  than  6,000,000  are  men  and  boys,  and  nearly  8,000,000 
are  women  and  girls.  While  deploring  the  sad  intellectual 
status,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  population  has  scat- 
tered over  an  immense  territory,  which  has  made  the  prog- 
ress of  instruction  very  difficult. 

There  is  a  system  of  public  primary  instruction  in  each 
of  the  several  states,  and  efforts  are  being  made  to  extend 
these  privileges  to  every  community.  The  methods  are 
often  defective  and  antiquated,  but  progress  is  being  made. 
There  are  several  normal  schools  for  the  purpose  of  training 

*92 


BRAZIL 

young  teachers,  and  these  are  well  attended.  For  second- 
ary instruction  there  is  a  system  of  higher  schools  or  col- 
leges under  government  supervision ;  these  are  located  in 
different  sections  of  the  country.  For  superior,  or  technical 
instruction,  there  are  two  law  schools,  two  medical  schools, 
a  school  of  pharmacy  and  one  of  mineralogy.  There  is  in 
the  Federal  Capital  a  Pedagogical  Institute,  an  Academy 
of  Fine  Arts,  a  National  Institute  of  Music,  an  institute  for 
the  blind  and  one  for  the  deaf  and  dumb.  There  are  also 
a  number  of  private  schools  in  some  of  the  towns  and 
cities. 

Brazil  has  produced  some  men  of  renown  in  epic  poetry, 
dramatic  literature,  history,  music,  art,  medicine  and  other 
departments  of  knowledge.  Many  young  Brazilians  have 
been  sent  abroad  to  be  educated  and  some  of  them  have 
distinguished  themselves  in  European  schools.  There  are 
aspiring  individuals  who  aim  at  the  learned  professions  and 
state  positions,  and  who  are  much  devoted  to  intellectual 
pursuits  and  culture.  But  on  the  whole  it  must  be  admitted, 
that  while  they  may  have  accomplished  great  things  in  the 
way  of  discovery  and  conquest,  the  Portuguese  have  never 
been  distinguished  for  letters  and  learning. 

In  all  of  the  cities  and  in  many  towns  there  are  daily 
papers,  and  these  find  their  way  far  into  the  agricultural  dis- 
tricts and  country  places.  Book  stores  are  to  be  found  in 
all  the  larger  places,  but  they  are  filled  pretty  generally  with 
French  novels  and  other  French  works.  Many  of  the  text- 
books used  in  the  technical  schools  are  in  the  French  lan- 
guage. 

The  educational  work  of  Protestant  missions  has  given  a 
stimulus  to  education,  and  especially  to  female  education, 
that  is  spreading  throughout  the  country.  There  is  a  great 
field  for  Christian  activity  and  philanthropy  in  school  work 

73 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

in  Brazil,  and  in  creating  a  wholesome,  moral  and  religious 
literature  in  the  expressive  and  musical  language  of  Camoes. 

IV.  Protestant  Missions  in  Brazil. — i.  Early  Pio- 
neers under  Villegagnon. — The  French  frequented  the  coast 
of  Brazil  from  its  earliest  discovery.  A  knight,  Nicholas 
Durand  de  Villegagnon,  who  was  a  bold  adventurer,  skillful 
seaman  and  a  man  of  some  learning,  having  made  a  voyage 
to  the  coast  of  Brazil  and  having  established  intercourse 
with  the  natives,  selected  the  bay  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  where 
he  planned  to  establish  a  colony.  He  persuaded  Henry  II. 
that  he  would  establish  an  asylum  for  the  persecuted  Hugue- 
nots and  at  the  same  time  open  the  commerce  of  America 
to  Europe,  if  only  he  might  be  enabled  to  carry  out  his 
plans.  An  expedition  was  fitted  out  and  very  soon  arrived 
at  the  chosen  places,  where  a  colony  was  located  on  a  small 
island  in  the  great  bay.  Though  suffering  some  hardships, 
it  prospered  for  a  time.  As  this  project  offered  asylum  for 
the  Protestants,  it  was  most  natural  that  Calvin  and  the 
Genevan  clergy  should  be  interested  in  the  enterprise.  They 
consequently  sent  out  with  the  second  expedition,  which 
consisted  of  more  than  three  hundred  souls,  two  ministers 
and  fourteen  students.  This  is  one  of  the  earliest  Protestant 
missionary  parties  ever  sent  out. 

They  were  cordially  received  by  Villegagnon,  who  imme- 
diately had  a  room  prepared  for  divine  service.  These 
missionaries  returned  thanks  to  God  for  safe  arrival  after  a 
long  and  perilous  voyage  and  at  once  entered  upon  their 
work.  The  chief  of  the  colony  seemed  zealous,  and  was 
gifted  in  prayer.  He  maintained,  however,  that  the  sacra- 
mental wine  ought  to  be  mingled  with  water,  and  that  salt 
and  oil  ought  to  be  used  with  the  water  in  baptism.  On 
these  points  he  contended  with  the  missionaries  and  gave 
them  no  little  trouble.     Very  soon  his  real  character  was 

74 


BRAZIL 

manifested  in  acts  of  great  cruelty  and  barbarity  toward  the 
savages  and  in  a  measure  toward  the  colonists.     He  quar- 
relled with  the  ministers,  threw  off  the  mask,  and  sided  with 
Catholic  tyranny  and  intolerance  to   such  an  extent  that 
these  Huguenots  found   their  condition  worse  than  it  had 
been  in  France.     He  denounced  them  as  heretics  worthy  of 
the  stake  and  had  three  of  the  most  zealous  of  them  put  to 
death.     Others  fled,  some  to  the  shore  and  some  to  the 
French  vessels  anchored   near  by.     Those  who  fled  to  the 
Portuguese  were  compelled  to  profess  the  Catholic  faith. 
Had  it  not  been  for  the  treachery  of  this  villain,  the  enter- 
prise would  doubtless  have  been  permanent ;  for  the  Portu- 
guese had  permitted  this  colony  to  remain  four  years  undis- 
turbed.    During  this  time  the  missionaries  had  done  a  work 
which  required  several  years  of  most  bloody  and  cruel  effort 
to  extinguish.     Ten  thousand   Frenchmen  were   ready  to 
join  the  colony  at  the  earliest  opportunity.     The  Jesuits 
were  well  aware  of  the  movement  and  what  it  meant,  and 
taking  advantage  of  the  treachery  of  Villegagnon  they  de- 
vised plans  for  the  cruel  work  of  extinction.     A  Portuguese 
fleet  was  sent  out,  captured  the  French  forts  and  took  pos- 
session of   the  island.     Southey  remarks :   ''  Never  was  a 
war  in  which  so  little  exertion  had  been  made,  and  so  little 
force  employed  on  either  side,  attended  by  consequences  so 
important.     The  French  Court  was  too  busy  in  burning  and 
massacring  Huguenots  to  think  of  Brazil."     Many  of  the 
Indian  converts  likewise  suffered  greatly  at  the  hands  of 
these  persecutors. 

The  failure  of  these  Protestants  with  their  open  Bible  to 
get  a  permanent  foothold  in  this  part  of  the  New  World 
determined  the  religious  destiny  of  Brazil  for  at  least  three 
centuries.  If  they  had  succeeded,  instead  of  the  very  sad 
spectacle  of  the  intellectual,  social  and  moral  condition  of 

75 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

the  country  to-day,  we  would  doubtless  be  gazing  upon  the 
marvellous  wealth  and  prosperity  of  a  highly  cultured,  godly 
and  upright  nation. 

2.  Dutch  Atte77ipts  at  Evangelization. — The  attention  of 
the  Dutch  was  directed  to  America  and  the  West  Indian 
Company  was  formed  early  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
When  it  was  decided  to  invade  Brazil  one  motive  pleaded 
was,  that  a  pure  religion  would  thus  be  introduced  into 
America.  Their  fleets  arrived  on  the  coast  of  Brazil,  made 
their  attack  and  captured  the  city  of  Bahia  in  the  beginning 
of  1624.  When  the  men  first  landed  they  found  many 
silver  images,  among  which  were  thirteen  of  greater  size 
and  value  of  the  Virgin  Mary  and  the  Twelve  Apostles. 
Proclamations  were  made,  one  of  which  was  to  the  effect  of 
securing  the  ^'free  enjoyment  of  religion  to  all  who  would 
submit."  This  invasion  extended  north,  and  Pernambuco 
by  and  by  became  the  stronghold  of  the  Dutch.  Many 
Jews,  negroes  and  others  became  Christians  under  the  in- 
fluence and  through  the  efforts  of  the  chaplains  who  had 
accompanied  the  expeditions.  Liberal  measures  were  en- 
acted in  many  ways,  and  the  condition  of  the  slaves  and 
the  savages  was  greatly  improved  for  a  time.  *'  Dutch  mis- 
sionaries labored  to  teach  them  a  Calvin  istic  instead  of  a 
Popish  creed." 

Some  of  the  Protestant  ministers  learned  the  Tupi  dialect, 
and  labored  with  great  success  a?nong  the  I?idians,  civilizing 
and  converting  them.  It  is  said  that  many  of  the  natives 
could  read  and  understand  the  laws  as  well  as  the  Portu- 
guese themselves.  Many  improvements  in  agricultural  and 
industrial  pursuits  were  introduced.  While  this  is  true  of 
the  eff'orts  of  the  clergy  and  many  of  the  nobler  hearted  of 
the  Dutch,  yet  it  is  abundantly  evident  that  a  deep  deprav- 
ity characterized  the  conduct  of  many  in  their  relations  to- 

76 


BRAZIL 

ward  the  negroes  and  the  Indians,  as  well  as  toward  their 
enemies,  the  Portuguese.  It  seems  true  that  from  the  be- 
ginning of  this  invasion  Christianity  was  perverted  to  serve 
the  purpose  of  avarice  and  ambition  ;  hence  we  are  not 
surprised  that  after  a  struggle  of  thirty  years,  Brazil  fell 
again  into  the  hands  of  the  Portuguese  in  1654.  Thus 
once  more  were  the  efforts  of  Protestantism  to  get  a  foot- 
hold in  the  country  frustrated. 

3.  Early  Efforts  of  the  Northern  Methodists. — The  Rev. 
Fountain  E.  Pitts  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  went 
to  South  America  in  the  year  1835  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
vestigating the  condition  of  the  people.  One  result  of  this 
visit  was  the  opening  of  work  at  Rio  de  Janeiro  by  Rev.  D. 
P.  Kidder,  who  was  sent  out  the  following  year.  The 
American  Bible  Society  made  consignments  of  Scriptures  to 
him  for  distribution,  of  which  work  he  gives  a  most  inter- 
esting account.  He  opened  a  mission  home,  preached, 
visited  and  conversed  with  the  people  as  opportunity  af- 
forded. His  work  aroused  the  priests,  one  of  whom  wrote 
a  curious  book  entitled,  "O  Catholicoe,  O  Methodista,"  in 
which  he  violently  attacked  Dr.  Kidder  and  most  villain- 
ously misrepresented  the  Methodists  and  their  designs  in  the 
work.  Mrs.  Kidder  dying  in  1842,  he  returned  to  New 
York  with  his  infant  child,  and  the  work  was  suspended. 

The  Rev.  Justus  H.  Nelson  has  been  for  a  number  of 
years  carrying  on  a  Methodist  mission  in  Para  and  the 
Amazon  valley  on  the  self-supporting  basis,  which  has  been 
fruitful  of  good  results.  There  are  perhaps  at  present  100 
communicants  besides  a  number  of  probationers  in  that 
section.  He  publishes  a  weekly  paper.  He  has  from  time 
to  time  had  others  with  him  in  the  work,  and  is  at  present 
aided  by  a  brother  missionary.  His  heroic  wife  has  done 
valuable  service  in  the  mission. 

77 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

4.  '*  Help  for  Brazil:'— Dr.  Robert  R.  Kalley  of  Scot- 
land, who  had  been  driven  from  the  island  of  Madeira  by 
persecution,  was  attracted  to  Rio  de  Janeiro,  where  he  ar- 
rived in  May,  1855.  Here  he  met  some  of  his  converts 
who  like  himself  had  fled  from  Madeira.  He  at  once  be- 
gan missionary  operations.  His  noble  wife,  who  still  sur- 
vives him,  had  some  means,  and  so  they  were  not  depend- 
ent on  any  board.  He  was  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scot- 
land, but  worked  independently  and  organized  his  work  on 
rather  original  Hues.  He  preached  for  some  time  in  private 
houses  as  he  had  opportunity  and  in  a  rented  hall.  His 
presence  and  work  in  the  city  soon  began  to  attract  some 
attention,  and  were  attended  with  opposition  and  persecu- 
tion ;  but  with  tact  and  prudence  he  was  enabled  to  over- 
come, or  at  least  to  endure,  this  opposition,  and  carried  on 
his  work  successfully.  He  organized  an  Independent  Con- 
gregational church  in  Rio  in  the  year  1858.  He  made  a 
number  of  visits  to  other  parts  of  the  country,  and  preached 
for  the  first  time  in  a  number  of  places.  He  continued  his 
labors  in  this  way  until  1876,  when  on  account  of  advanc- 
ing age  and  feeble  health,  he  retired  to  Scotland.  He  con- 
tinued to  interest  himself  in  the  building  of  a  church  for 
his  congregation  in  Rio  and  in  planning  to  send  out  other 
laborers.     He  died  at  Edinburgh  in  1888. 

The  Rio  congregation  now  has  a  substantial  church 
building,  for  which  they  are  indebted  principally  to  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Kalley  and  a  wealthy  member  of  the  congregation. 
The  pastor  reports  that  587  members  have  been  enrolled. 
The  work  has  extended  to  other  points  in  the  city,  to  the 
neighboring  city,  Nictheroy,  where  a  church  numbering  fifty 
members  has  been  organized,  to  Passa  Tres,  where  there 
are  100  members,  and  to  other  places  in  the  country.  A 
branch  of  this  movement  was  inaugurated  in  the  city  of 

78 


BRAZIL 

Pernambuco,  and  has  spread  to  a  number  of  places  in  the 
country  round  about.  In  the  Rio  district  there  are  three 
ordained  native  preachers  and  other  workers,  and  there  are 
several  native  workers  in  Pernambuco. 

One  result  of  Dr.  Kalley's  work  was  the  organization  of 
a  nondenominational  committee  in  Scotland,  entitled, 
^*  Help  for  Brazil^  This  committee  sustains  five  or  six 
male  missionaries  and  their  wives  and  four  single  women : 
these  are  working  in  the  city  and  state  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  in 
Pernambuco,  Minas  Geraes,  and  they  are  just  now  about  to 
open  work  in  Espirito  Santo. 

5.  The  next  regular  missionary  movement  in  Brazil  was 
inaugurated  by  the  Board  of  the  Northern  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States.  Their  first  missionary,  Rev. 
A.  G.  Simonton,  arrived  in  August,  1859.  He  opened  a 
preaching  hall  and  began  regular  work  in  May,  1861,  He 
followed  somewhat  the  same  methods  that  were  pursued  by 
Dr.  Kalley,  preaching  in  private  houses  wherever  he  found 
an  open  door,  and  visiting  and  conversing  with  the  people 
as  far  as  opportunity  was  afforded.  He  was  abundantly  suc- 
cessful, and  his  name  and  his  work  still  live  in  the  mem- 
ories and  hearts  of  many. 

The  first  Presbyterian  church  was  organized  in  January, 
1862.  The  work  grew,  and  the  committee  soon  sent  out 
other  laborers.  A  Presbytery  was  organized  with  their 
foreign  missionaries  in  December,  1865,  Their  work  has 
spread  through  at  least  seven  states,  and  there  are  at  present 
on  the  field  ten  ordained  missionaries,  most  of  whom  have 
families,  five  single  women  and  one  layman,  besides  a  large 
number  of  native  preachers  and  workers  who  are  sustained 
almost  entirely  by  the  native  church. 

McKenzie  College,  with  a  charter  from  the  University  of 
New  York,  and  its  adjunct,  the  American   College  of    Sao 

79 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Paulo,  is  a  very  interesting  and  prominent  feature  of  the 
Presbyterian  work.  They  have  about  500  students  in  at- 
tendance. They  also  have  prosperous  school  work  in  the 
States  of  Parana,  Bahia  and  Sergipe. 

The  Presbyterians  have  from  time  to  time  sustained  a 
paper,  printed  tracts  and  some  small  books.  The  natives 
now  support  their  own  papers. 

6.  This  movement  was  soon  followed  by  the  committee 
of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  of  America.  They 
began  work  in  Campinas  in  the  province  of  Sao  Paulo. 
Their  first  missionaries.  Revs.  E.  Lane  and  G.  N.  Morton, 
arrived  in  1869,  The  former  devoted  his  efforts  to  preach- 
ing and  general  evangelistic  work,  while  the  latter  launched 
a  school  enterprise.  This  school  did  well  for  a  time,  but 
after  a  series  of  misfortunes  came  to  grief;  it  was  afterward 
opened  in  another  place  where  it  still  prospers.  Their  work 
has  spread  into  some  ten  States.  They  have  prosperous 
school  work  at  several  points,  and  there  are  now  in  the  field 
eleven  ordained  married  missionaries,  six  single  women, 
and  a  number  of  efficient  native  preachers  and  workers. 

The  forces  of  these  two  Presbyterian  bodies  were  united 
into  one  Sy?iod  of  Brazil  in  September,  1888.  At  the 
recent  session  of  the  Synod  the  territory  now  occupied  by 
them  was  divided  into  seven  Presbyteries.  Their  forces  are 
strongest  in  the  State  of  Sao  Paulo,  but  they  have  regular 
work  in  thirteen  other  States  and  in  the  Federal  Capital. 
The  statistics  have  not  yet  been  published,  but  it  is  estimated 
that  they  have  about  eighty  organized  churches  with  per- 
haps 7,000  communicants ;  there  are  several  pastoral  resi- 
dences, one  Theological  Seminary  with  about  twelve 
students,  and  a  number  of  valuable  church  buildings. 
There  are  three  weekly  Presbyterian  papers,  all  of  which 
have  a  fairly  good  circulation. 

80 


BRAZIL 

7.  The  Board  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
(South),  sent  out  their  first  missionary,  Rev.  J.  J.  Ransom, 
who  arrived  at  Rio  de  Janeiro  on  February  2,  1876.  He 
began  work  in  the  city  some  months  later.  A  local  preacher 
in  a  colony  of  Americans,  located  in  the  State  of  Sao 
Paulo,  had  been  working  among  his  fellow  countrymen  for 
several  years.  He  was  of  help  to  Mr.  Ransom,  and  was 
instrumental  in  starting  work  in  Piracicaba,  which  has  since 
become  an  important  station.  Reinforcements  were  sent  out 
in  1 88 1.  In  1886  Bishop  Granbery  made  the  first  Episcopal 
visit  to  this  mission,  and  at  the  time  organized  it  into  an 
Annual  Conference.  Other  workers  have  been  added  from 
time  to  time,  and  work  has  been  established  in  the  Federal 
Capital  and  three  States.  The  most  recent  statistics  give 
twelve  ordained  missionaries,  ten  of  whom  are  married, 
twelve  single  women,  eleven  ordained  and  four  unordained 
native  preachers,  besides  other  local  workers.  There  are 
twenty-eight  pastoral  charges  and  missions,  twelve  church 
buildings  and  three  pastoral  residences,  with  2,785  com- 
municants. They  have  three  boarding-schools  for  girls,  one 
for  boys,  and  several  day-schools  for  both  sexes.  In  con- 
nection with  the  boys'  boarding-school  at  Juiz  de  Fora  in 
Minas  Geraes  they  have  a  Theological  Seminary  with  a 
class  of  some  ten  young  men  studying  for  the  ministry. 
They  publish  a  weekly  paper  and  Sunday-school  literature 
at  Rio  de  Janeiro.  Two  of  the  single  women  give  their 
entire  time  to  visiting  from  house  to  house,  while  the  others 
put  forth  most  of  their  efforts  in  school  work. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  (North)  has  for  several 
years  been  working  in  the  State  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  but 
have  recently  transferred  to  the  Church  (South)  their  work  in 
that  province.  Their  central  station  has  been  Porto  Alegre, 
but  there  are  two  other  circuits  and  one  mission ;  there  are 

8i 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

one  ordained  married  missionary,  one  single  woman,  two 
unordained  native  preachers  and  several  other  workers. 
They  report  about  150  communicants  and  about  250  pro- 
bationers. There  are  a  day-school,  two  church  buildings 
and  some  other  property. 

8.  The  mission  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  was 
begun  by  the  Rev.  W.  B.  Bagby  and  wife  who  arrived  in 
Brazil  in  1882,  though  a  temporary  work  was  attempted 
twelve  years  before.  They  were  soon  joined  by  others  and 
opened  work  in  the  city  of  Bahia.  They  have  from  time 
to  time  had  reinforcements,  and  their  work  has  extended 
into  the  Federal  Capital  and  seven  States,  with  tentative 
enterprises  in  four  others.  They  report  eight  ordained 
missionaries,  most  of  whom  are  married,  three  single  women, 
ten  ordained  and  six  unordained  native  preachers.  They 
have  some  church  property,  a  membership  estimated  at 
about  2,000,  thirty-two  organized  societies,  some  school  work, 
publish  two  weekly  papers  and  a  number  of  tracts.  Four 
foreign  Baptist  churches  exist  in  Southern  Brazil  and  plans 
are  on  foot  soon  to  begin  work  in  connection  with  them. 

9.  The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  America  began 
their  work  in  1889,  the  organization  being  called  the  Amer- 
ican Church  Missionary  Society.  Two  young  men,  Rev.  L. 
L.  Kinsolving  and  Rev.  W.  Morris  were  sent  out,  who  after 
learning  the  language  sufficiently,  opened  work  in  the  State 
of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul.  The  Presbyterians  turned  over  to 
them  a  small  enterprise  which  they  had  been  carrying  on 
for  some  time  in  the  city  of  Rio  Grande.  They  opened 
work  in  the  city  of  Porto  Alegre,  and  as  soon  as  reinforce- 
ments were  sent  out  entered  other  important  points.  At 
the  recent  session  of  their  convocation,  their  forces  consisted 
of  one  missionary  Bishop,  three  ordained  missionaries,  all 
of  whom  are  married,  one  unordained  missionary,  three 

Z2 


BRAZIL 


single  women,  three  ordained  and  one  unordained  native 
preachers  and  several  other  workers.  They  have  projected 
already  several  church  buildings,  and  have  about  400  com- 
municants with  a  number  of  candidates  under  instruction. 
Several  young  men  are  studying  for  the  ministry.  They 
publish  a  weekly  paper  and  are  doing  something  in  the  way 
of  creating  a  literature  for  their  church. 

10.  The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  early  made 
small  consignments  of  Scriptures  to  Christian  merchants 
and  the  first  missionaries  for  distribution  in  Brazil.     For 
many  years  they  have  had  a  central  depositary  in  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  and  have  carried  on  a  regular  system  of  colportage 
work  throughout  the  country.     The  Rev.   J.   M.   G.  dos 
Santos,  pastor  of  the  church  founded  by  Dr.  Kalley,  has 
been  the  agent  since  1878.     It  may  be  safely  estimated  that 
through  this  Society  there  have  been  put  into  circulation  in 
Brazil  400,000  copies  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.     Mr.  Santos 
has  been  aided  in  the  work  by  a  missionary  sent  out  by  the 
Society  nearly  two  years  ago.     They  generally  employ  about 
twelve  colporteurs,  and  are  extending  the  work  into  every 
section  of  the  country. 

II.  The  American  Bible  Society  previous  to  1836  had 
sent  a  few  copies  of  the  Scriptures  to  foreign  merchants 
residing  on  the  coast  of  Brazil.  Reference  has  already 
been  made  to  the  consignments  sent  to  the  Methodist  mis- 
sionaries in  1836-42.  Shortly  after  the  American  missiona- 
ries began  their  work  this  Society  was  induced  to  establish 
a  regular  agency.  Rev.  A.  L.  Blackford,  of  the  Presby- 
terian mission,  was  in  charge  for  a  while  ;  he  was  succeeded 
by  Rev.  Wm.  Brown,  who  remained  in  charge  until  1887. 
He  was  followed  by  Rev.  H.  C.  Tucker,  the  present  in- 
cumbent. There  is  a  central  depot  in  Rio.  and  a  varying 
number  of  colporteurs  are  employed  from  time  to  time,  and 

83 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

much  work  is  done  in  connection  with  the  missionaries, 
native  preachers  and  other  workers.  From  the  beginning 
to  the  present  time  this  Society  has  put  into  circulation  in 
Brazil  no  less  then  325,000  copies  of  the  Scriptures. 

A  very  reasonable  estimate  would  give  a  circulation  of 
850,000  or  900,000  copies  of  the  Scriptures  in  Brazil  since 
the  organization  of  the  British  and  Foreign  and  the 
American  Bible  Societies  to  the  close  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 

12.  Mr.  Myron  A.  Clark  was  sent  to  Brazil  by  thQ  Lifer- 
national  Committee  of  the  Young  Men' s  Christian  Associa- 
tion in  1889,  and  after  some  time  spent  in  the  study  of  the 
language  he  came  to  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  took  steps  to  or- 
ganize an  Association.  It  was  from  the  beginning  pop- 
ular among  the  native  churches  and  was  heartily  supported 
by  the  missionaries.  For  a  time  the  work  was  carried  on  in 
a  rented  building,  but  by  and  by  two  men  of  means  secured 
a  building  which  they  deeded  to  the  Association,  taking  a 
mortgage  on  the  same.  The  work  has  grown,  and  is  recog- 
nized by  all  as  a  valuable  adjunct  to  the  efforts  that  are  being 
made  by  the  churches  to  evangelize  the  city  and  to  develop 
the  native  young  men.  The  Catholic  community  have  been 
provoked  to  organize  a  young  men's  society  in  imitation  of 
this  one.  It  is  the  purpose  of  those  interested  to  extend  the 
work  into  other  cities  as  soon  as  possible ;  indeed  work  has 
already  been  started  in  a  modest  way  in  several  other 
places. 

13.  There  are  a  number  of  smaller  and  independent 
movements  which  have  been  started  by  the  Christian  and 
Missionary  Alliance,  Seventh-Day  Adventists,  Plymouth 
Brethren  and  others,  which  are  scattered  about  in  different 
sections.  These  all  combined  number  perhaps  a  dozen 
foreign  and  native  workers,  and  have  400  or  500  members. 

84 


BRAZIL 

In  Pernambuco,  Bahia,  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  Sao  Paulo 
there  are  stationed  clergymen  of  the  Church  of  England^ 
whose  ministry  is  confined  exclusively  to  English  speaking 
people  in  these  cities  and  other  neighboring  places.  These 
churches  do  not  attempt  any  missionary  work  among  the 
Brazilians. 

There  are  various  Lutheran  churches  among  the  numerous 
German  colonists  located  especially  in  the  southern  section 
of  the  country.  There  are  perhaps  as  many  as  fifty  of  these 
German  pastors,  whose  efforts  are  confined  almost  entirely 
to  work  among  their  own  countrymen.  These  can  scarcely 
be  counted  among  the  aggressive  missionary  forces  of  the 
country ;  but  their  influence  is  being  felt,  and  they  are  des- 
tined to  play  an  important  part  in  the  future  of  Brazil. 

14.  Successful  Features  of  these  Societies. — It  may  be  said 
that  in  a  general  way  all  these  Boards  have  followed  very 
much  the  same  methods — preaching  in  rented  halls,  in 
houses  of  worship  as  soon  as  able  to  secure  them,  and  in 
private  houses ;  visiting  from  house  to  house,  and  convers- 
ing with  the  people ;  opening  boarding  and  day-schools ; 
and  scattering  tracts  and  weekly  papers,  with  such  other  re- 
ligious literature  as  may  be  at  hand.  There  are  several  men 
who  have  medical  diplomas,  and  have  used  their  profession 
to  some  advantage;  but  Brazil  being  well  supplied  with 
native  physicians  who  are  jealous  of  the  foreigners,  it  may 
be  seen  at  once  that  this  is  not  a  needy  field  for  medical 
missions.  The  preaching  of  the  Gospel  and  schools  seem 
to  be  the  principal  features  of  the  work. 

What  has  seemed  to  many  a  most  important  and  imme- 
diately successful  branch  of  the  work  is  the  distribution  and 
the  reading  of  the  Word  of  God.  The  last  annual  report 
of  the  American  Bible  Society  says  :  *'  Perhaps  there  is  no 
country  in  the  world  from  which  there  comes  such  a  wealth 

85 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

of  testimony  to  the  power  of  the  printed  Bible  circulated  in 
advance  of  the  preacher  of  the  gospel." 

One  of  the  successful  features  especially  of  the  Presby- 
terian and  Methodist  missions  is  the  rapidity  with  which 
they  have  developed  self-supporting  churches.  The  element 
of  liberality  and  generosity  in  the  Brazilian  character  comes 
quickly  into  use  under  gospel  influences.  It  is  reasonable  to 
hope  for  rapid  developments  in  Christian  life  and  character 
among  a  warm  and  generous-hearted  people  where  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  preached  Word  is  coupled  with  the  reading 
and  study  of  the  Bible. 

15.  Distribution  of  Missionary  and  other  Forces. — For 
lack  of  exact  statistics  we  can  only  give  what  we  know  to 
be  a  fairly  correct  estimate  of  the  evangelical  forces  now  at 
work  in  Brazil.  Of  all  Boards,  including  the  independents, 
there  are  about  fifty  married  missionaries  and  their  wives, 
ten  unmarried  men,  and  thirty  single  women ;  and  there  are 
about  eighty  native  ordained  preachers  and  other  workers 
actively  engaged  in  evangelistic  operations,  making  in  all 
some  220. 

If  we  take  the  country  by  districts^  we  have  the  following 
estimate  of  population  and  distribution  of  forces :  the  States 
of  Amazonas  and  Para,  population  1,050,000,  seven  mis- 
sionaries and  two  native  workers;  Maranhao,  Piauhy, 
Ceara,  Rio  Grande  do  Norte  and  Parahyba,  population 
2,600,000,  thirteen  missionaries  and  four  native  workers ; 
Pernambuco  and  Alagoas,  population  1,750,000,  ten  mis- 
sionaries and  six  native  workers ;  Sergipe  and  Bahia,  popu- 
lation 2,380,000,  fifteen  missionaries  and  seven  native 
workers;  Espirito  Santo,  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  Federal 
Capital,  population  2,180,000,  twenty-three  missionaries 
and  fifteen  native  workers;  Sao  Paulo,  Parana  and  Santa 
Catharina,   population    2,260,000,    thirty-five  missionaries 

86 


BRAZIL 

and  thirty  native  workers ;  Rio  Grande  do  Sul  and  Matto 
Grosso,  population  1,120,000,  fifteen  missionaries  and  six 
native  workers;  Minas  Geraes  and  Goyaz,  population  3,660,- 
000,  twenty-two  missionaries  and  ten  native  workers.  If 
taken  by  separate  states  the  distribution  would  be  very  dif- 
ferent :  for  instance,  Matto  Grosso,  Piauhy,  Espirito  Santo 
and  other  states  have  no  missionary  residing  in  their  bounds, 
and  these  three  do  not  have  even  resident  native  workers, 
though  colporteurs  and  others  visit  them  from  time  to  time. 
The  state  of  Sao  Paulo  is  the  most  favored  of  all,  having  the 
largest  number  of  missionaries  and  native  workers,  and  be- 
ing the  centre  of  most  of  the  educational  work  done  up  to  the 
present.  The  two  adjoining  states  of  Bahia  and  Minas  Geraes, 
have  the  largest  rural  population,  which  is  nearly  one-third 
of  the  whole,  and  they  have  only  about  one-fifth  of  the 
entire  evangelical  force ;  while  Sao  Paulo  with  only  about  one- 
tenth  of  the  entire  population  has  about  one-fifth  of  the 
entire  number  of  workers.  There  are  a  number  of  teachers, 
colporteurs  and  other  native  local  workers  not  included  in 
these  figures. 

16.  Work  for  the  Aborigines. — Until  recently  the 
Protestant  missionary  forces  have  made  no  especially  direct 
efforts  to  extend  their  work  among  the  wild  tribes  of  the 
country.  Two  parties  have  lately  made  trips  of  exploration 
and  investigation  with  a  view  to  beginning  work  among 
them,  and  plans  are  on  foot  for  giving  permanency  to  these 
projects.  A  missionary  has  been  commissioned  by  the  North- 
ern Presbyterian  Board  to  make  a  careful  study  of  this 
problem  and  to  devise  plans  for  definite  and  aggressive 
work  among  the  Indians.  He  is  now  in  the  Amazon  valley 
making  explorations  and  gathering  information. 

There  is  unquestionably  an  important  field  for  this  kind 
of  missionary  work  among  the  estimated  800,000  savages 

87 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

who  are  still  in  their  native  wild  state  through  the  great  in- 
terior of  Brazil.  There  is  much  to  be  done  also  among  the 
half-civilized  and  mixed  races  so  numerous  in  the  interior  of 
nearly  all  of  the  states.  These  latter  are  of  course  more 
easily  accessible. 


88 


REPUBLICS  OF  THE  PLATA  RIVER 


REPUBLICS  OF  THE  PLATA  RIVER 

By  Rev.  Charles  W.  Drees,  D.  D. 
For  Twenty-five  Years  a  Missionary  in  the  Plata  Countries. 

Paraguay,  Uruguay  and  Argentina,  naming  them  in  as- 
cending order  of  importance,  constitute  a  group  of  nations 
closely  related  by  their  geographical  situation  and  their  past 
history,  and  are  destined  to  a  common  development  in  the 
future.  If  Brazil  may  properly  claim  the  designation  ''  Re- 
public of  the  Southern  Cross,"  these  three  nations  may  well 
be  described  as  the  Republics  of  the  Plata  River,  in  view  of 
their  relation  to  the  great  river  system  which  pours  its  tide 
into  the  ocean  in  a  volume  unsurpassed  save  by  the  mighty 
Amazon  and  the  Congo. 

I.  The  River  Plata  and  Adjacent  Countries.— i .  The 
river  is  formed  by  the  union  of  the  Parana  and  Uruguay, 
the  largest  rivers  in  the  world  whose  general  direction  is 
away  from  the  equator.  These  drain  a  vast  area  of  the  in- 
terior of  the  South  American  continent  and  offer  highways 
of  communication  into  extensive  regions  hardly  explored 
and  not  yet  brought  under  tribute  to  civilization.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  the  Plata  system  offers  not  less  than  10,000 
miles  of  navigable  waters.  From  the  Atlantic  to  remote 
Guayaba  in  the  state  of  Matto  Grosso,  "Great  Forest," 
Brazil,  is  a  distance  of  nearly  2,400  miles,  half  of  which  is 
open  to  the  keels  of  vessels  drawing  nine  feet.  Binding  to- 
gether the  tropics  and  the  temperate  zone,  the  Plata  and  its 

91 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

tributaries  constitute  a  highway  by  which  the  products  of 
both  zones,  in  inconceivable  volume,  may  reach  the  lines  of 
ocean  traffic  and  thus  be  borne  to  every  quarter  of  the 
globe. 

2.  Physical  Characteristics  of  the  Countries. — The 
basin  drained  by  these  waters  offers  a  vast  territory  capable 
of  producing  the  most  varied  fruits  of  the  earth.  Great 
forests  still  retain  their  treasures  of  precious  woods.  By 
the  Brazilian  coast  range,  by  the  interior  elevation  of  which 
the  Cordova  mountains  form  a  part,  and  by  the  vast  eleva- 
tion of  the  Cordillera  of  the  Andes,  the  territory  of  these  re- 
publics is  diversified  and  the  character  of  their  products  de- 
termined. Near  the  Atlantic  coast  in  Argentina  and 
Uruguay  are  to  be  found  rich  pastures.  The  more  elevated 
interior  also  offers  pasturage  to  the  vast  herds  of  sheep  and 
cattle  which  so  long  constituted  the  chief  source  of  Argentine 
wealth.  The  broad  pampas  of  the  Argentine  and  the  fields 
stretching  northward  to  the  wooded  regions  of  the  Chaco 
have  been  found  susceptible  of  producing  the  richest 
harvests  of  our  great  cereals.  From  the  wheat  fields  of 
Argentina  the  golden  grain  may  find  its  way  with  a 
minimum  of  cost  in  transportation  into  the  holds  of  ocean- 
going vessels  tied  up  to  the  river  banks  within  a  stone's 
throw  of  the  fields  where  stood  the  waving  grain.  The  ap- 
parently arid  slopes  of  the  eastern  ranges  of  the  Andes, 
bursting  into  bloom  and  fruitage  wherever  the  hand  of  man 
directs  the  streams  flowing  from  the  melting  snows,  offer  a 
fruit-pro duci7ig  area  similar  to  that  of  California.  Grapes, 
apricots,  peaches  and  other  fruits  are  grown  in  quantities  far 
exceeding  the  demands  of  local  consumption,  and  every 
season  Argentine  grapes  find  their  way  to  European  markets 
and  increase  the  volume  of  the  French  vintage.  The  ex- 
istence   of  vast  mineral  resources  in  the  heart  of  tbes© 

92 


REPUBLICS  OF  THE  PLATA  RIVER 

South  American  mountains  is  well  established,  but  mining 
operations  have  as  yet  been  conducted  only  upon  the  most 
limited  scale. 

3.  Not  less  striking  than  the  physical  characteristics  of 
these  three  republics  are  the  features  common  to  the  peoples 
inhabiting  the  three  countries.  Of  all  the  nations  which 
have  grown  up  in  Latin  America,  these  have  as  a  whole 
preserved  in  greatest  purity  the  racial  characteristics  of  the 
Spanish  people.  The  aboriginal  races  which  dwelt  upon 
the  banks  of  the  Plata  and  its  tributaries  proved  refractory 
to  the  influences  of  civilization  or  were  destroyed  by  the 
f  ruel  oppression  of  their  conquerors.  As  a  consequence  the 
blood  of  the  red  man  has  mingled  scarcely  at  all  with  that 
of  the  Castilian.  Nevertheless  some  tincture  of  Indian 
blood  is  to  be  found  among  these  peoples  and  presents  itself 
in  almost  insensible  gradations  as  one  proceeds  from  the 
entrance  to  the  River  Plata  toward  the  far  interior.  Thus 
the  typical  Uruguayan,  whether  of  the  seaport  and  capital 
city  of  Montevideo,  or  of  the  rolling  plains  of  the  interior, 
presents  no  visible  trace  of  Indian  ancestry.  The  Argen- 
tinian shows  a  somewhat  greater  intermingling  of  Indian 
blood,  and  yet  its  presence  is  scarcely  noticeable  in  the  pre- 
vailing types  one  meets  in  the  great  city  of  Buenos  Aires. 
In  fact,  the  crossing  of  the  races,  in  so  far  as  it  took  place 
at  all,  occurred  at  so  remote  a  period  and  so  soon  ceased 
that  the  Castilian  type  has  scarcely  suffered  any  appreciable 
modification.  In  Paraguay,  however,  save  in  the  few 
families  whose  chief  pride  it  is  that  they  have  preserved 
without  taint  their  Spanish  blood,  the  presence  of  the  Indian 
strain  is  more  manifest. 

The  differences  between  the  people  of  these  three 
countries  are  more  largely  due  to  the  various  currents  of 
immigration  which  have  poured  into  their  respective  terri- 

93 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

tories.  Montevideo  and  its  back-lying  country  seem  to 
have  been  more  attractive  to  immigrants  coming  from  the 
Iberian  Peninsula ;  while  Buenos  Aires,  Rosario  and  other 
river  towns  of  Argentina,  as  well  as  the  agricultural  regions 
tributary  to  them,  have  become  the  homes  of  great  numbers 
of  Italians.  There  exist,  likewise,  in  the  interior  of 
Argentina  many  colonies  established  by  Italians,  who  have 
entered  upon  agricultural  pursuits  and  built  up  their  homes 
in  the  new  country  whose  broad  plains  invite  the  plowshare 
of  the  agriculturist.  Paraguay  has  been  less  largely  affected 
by  immigration,  a  sudden  check  having  been  given  to  the 
progress  of  this  country  by  the  financial  crisis  of  1889. 

Only  in  the  forests  of  the  interior  of  Paraguay  and  in  the 
region  known  as  the  Great  Chaco  to  the  westward  of  the 
Parana  and  Paraguay  rivers  are  there  to  be  found  any  con- 
siderable numbers  of  uncivilized  Indians.  There  are,  how- 
ever, some  thousands  roaming  these  regions  divided  into 
numerous  tribes,  speaking  diverse  languages,  having  received 
scarcely  any  of  the  influences  of  civilization  and  not  being 
Christianized  even  in  the  Roman  sense. 

A  broad  generalization y  based  upon  the  movements  of 
population  in  this  great  region,  might  take  the  form  of  a 
statement  to  the  effect,  that,  as  in  North  America  there  is 
growing  up  a  new  type  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  formed  by 
the  fusion  of  many  elements,  not  all  of  which  are  of  Teutonic 
origin,  so  in  the  temperate  zone  of  South  America  there  is 
growing  up  a  composite  type  whose  constituent  elements  are 
not  all  of  Latin  race.  It  would  seem  that  as  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race  found  in  North  America  a  new  and  vast  field  for 
its  development,  so  in  South  America  the  Latin  peoples  of 
Southern  Europe  are  to  work  out  their  grandest  future. 

4.  As  to  their  moral  conditions,  these  republics  offer  the 
general  features  resulting  from  the  prevalence  of  a  type  of 

94 


REPUBLICS  OF  THE  PLATA  RIVER 

Christianity  which  was  transplanted  from  Southern  Europe  in 
an  age  of  darkness  and  incorporated  into  the  social  and 
ecclesiastical  organism,  the  native  portion  of  which  came 
under  the  influence  of  the  conqueror  with  only  the  most 
superficial  instruction  and  without  any  moral  or  spiritual 
power. 

At  the  period  of  the  acquisition  of  its  vast  domain  in  the 
Western  world  Spain  had  but  recently  been  brought  under 
entire  subjection  to  the  authority  of  the  Roman  pontiff. 
Only  a  few  years  before  Isabella  of  Castile  had  sold  her 
jewels  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  voyage  of  discovery 
undertaken  by  Christopher  Columbus,  and  had,  under  the 
influence  of  her  ecclesiastical  advisers  and  in  obedience  to 
the  statecraft  of  her  husband,  Ferdinand  of  Aragon,  signed 
away  the  ancient  liberties  and  independence  of  the  Spanish 
Church,  subjecting  its  ecclesiastical  organization  to  the 
hated  control  of  the  Roman  Inquisition.  That  was  the 
death  warrant  of  Spain,  and  its  consequences  have  only 
been  fully  reaped  within  most  recent  years  in  the  final  loss 
of  all  her  colonial  possessions. 

Many  individuals  had  shown  a  ready  response  to  the 
spiritual  movement  known  as  the  Reformation  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  There  were  many  who  drank  at  the  pure 
fountain  of  Divine  truth,  the  Word  of  God;  many  who 
found  the  power  of  a  new  life  in  the  simple  faith  of  the  gos- 
pel ;  many  who  in  the  time  of  trial  sealed  their  confession 
with  their  blood.  Spain  knew  not  the  day  of  her  visitation 
and  in  consequence  of  a  conspiracy  of  statecraft  and  priest- 
craft rejected  the  truth.  T^it,  light  of  faith  was  quenched 
in  the  fires  kindled  in  the  public  squares  of  Salamanca, 
Seville  and  Valladolid,  by  the  hand  of  the  civil  power 
subservient  to  the  behests  of  the  Inquisition.  Uniformity 
of  religious  confession  was  secured  at  the  sacrifice  of  liberty 

95 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

of  conscience.  Hence  it  came  to  pass  that  the  type  of 
Christianity  transplanted  to  the  New  World  under  the  ban- 
ners of  the  Spanish  monarchy  was  the  Christianity  of  Roman 
Catholicism  crystallized  as  to  its  dogma  by  the  Council  of 
Trent  and  enforced  at  the  point  of  the  sword. 

The  Roman  Catholic  religion,  or  its  representatives,  must 
be  held  responsible  for  the  conditions  which  have  grown  up 
under  its  tutelage  during  a  period  of  nearly  400  years.  The 
Christianity  of  South  America  is  of  the  Roman  type.  It 
was  brought  into  this  continent  by  priest  and  friar  supported 
by  every  advantage  arising  from  the  subserviency  of  the 
civil  power  to  the  dictates  of  the  ecclesiastical  authorities. 
That  its  influence  has  been  unfavorable  to  the  diffusion  of 
the  blessings  of  civilization,  of  general  intelligence  and  of 
high  moral  ideals  would  be  evident  upon  a  most  superficial 
survey  of  the  facts.  From  the  standpoint  of  the  missionary 
enterprise  much  might  be  said  as  to  the  facts  manifest  upon 
the  surface  of  social,  civil  and  religious  life  in  South 
America.  The  large  percentage  of  illiteracy,  the  rude 
conditions  of  life,  the  prevalence  of  low  ideals  as  to  personal 
morality  and  conjugal  fidelity,  the  character  of  the  priest- 
hood and  the  widespread  conviction  among  all  classes  that 
vows  of  celibacy  afford  no  guarantee  of  personal  purity, — 
all  this  and  much  more  might  be  dwelt  upon  in  fullest  de- 
tails in  support  of  the  declaration  that  Roman  Catholicism 
has,  in  all  Latin  America,  been  tried  and  found  wanting. 
But  all  such  argument,  even  when  drawn  out  in  fullest  de- 
tail, would  but  touch  the  surface  of  the  question  at  issue. 
There  are  enough  blemishes  upon  our  Christian  civilization, 
even  where  Protestantism  has  commanded  a  controlling  in' 
fluence,  to  give  at  least  the  appearance  of  cogent  rejoinder. 
Not  all  Protestant  ministers  are  true  to  their  vows.  Educa- 
tion and  enlightenment  do  not  reach  as  they  ought  the 

96 


REPUBLICS  OF  THE  PLATA  RIVER 

lowest  masses  of  our  city  populations.  We  have  much  to 
deplore  and  much  to  remedy  before  we  can  rely  upon  such 
comparison  to  give  conclusive  answer  to  the  doubter  or  the 
opponent. 

Back  of  all  questions  as  to  the  comparative  fruits  of  the 
two  systems,  each  of  which  claims  to  be  the  genuine  ex- 
ponent of  the  religion  of  Christ,  there  lies  the  question  of 
fundajneiital  truth.  Fundamental  to  all  this  controversy 
and  to  the  question  of  duty  as  to  the  enterprise  for  the  evan- 
gelization of  South  America  is  the  question  as  to  the  vital 
principles  of  these  two  systems. 

It  is  the  fundamental  principle  of  Protestantism  and,  as 
we  believe,  of  New  Testament  Christianity,  that  the  human 
mind  and  conscience  are  to  be  brought  into  direct  relation- 
ship with  God  through  Christ  as  the  great  revealer  and  the 
one  and  only  Saviour.  Protestantism  interposes  no  human 
ministry  nor  any  material  ordinance  between  the  human 
soul  and  its  Creator.  Hence  the  completest  sense  of  indi- 
vidual responsibility  and  the  highest  conception  of  personal 
privilege.  Every  man  stands  before  his  God  and  to  Him 
alone  must  answer  for  his  obedience  to  Divine  truth  and  his 
acceptance  of  the  provisions  of  Divine  grace.  With  this 
sense  of  individual  responsibility  there  comes  the  deepest 
conviction  of  personal  dignity  and  liberty.  No  man's  con- 
science is  bound  at  the  feet  of  priest  or  pontiff.  No  man  is 
bound  to  accept  any  dogma  or  teaching  save  upon  the  testi- 
mony of  his  reason  held  obedient  to  Divine  light  alone.  No 
man  is  dependent  for  his  access  to  the  treasures  of  Divine 
grace  upon  the  will  and  intention  of  a  human  priest.  Grace 
comes  to  the  human  heart  out  of  the  riches  of  infinite  love 
testified  by  the  Spirit  of  God  Himself. 

On  the  other  hand,  Romanism  commands  obedience  not 
only  to  that  which  is  clearly  of  Divine  authority  as  wit- 

97- 


*   PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

nessed  by  the  Scriptures,  but  also  to  those  definitions  of 
truth  and  rules  of  conduct  which  may  be  prescribed  by  a 
so-called  infallible  ''doctor"  and  ''teacher"  seated  upon 
the  throne  of  pretended  apostolic  authority.  It  supplements 
and  finally  displaces  in  the  common  thought  of  the  people 
the  one  and  only  mediation  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  converts 
human  duty  into  a  means  of  propitiating  Divine  favor  and 
compensating  for  violation  of  the  Divine  law.  It  interposes 
between  the  soul  and  its  Creator  and  Redeemer  innumerable 
mediators  in  saint  and  angel  and  the  Blessed  Mother  of  our 
Lord.  It  puts  into  the  hand  of  a  priest,  fallible  and  erring, 
the  tremendous  ministry  of  an  indispensable  medium  through 
which  by  the  sacraments,  valid  in  his  hand  alone,  saving 
grace  may  come  to  the  sinful  heart.  It  binds  the  operation 
of  the  Divine  Spirit  to  outward  material  ordinance.  At  the 
altar  and  in  the  confessional  it  subjects  the  believer  to  the 
authority  and  command  of  the  human  priest  in  whose  hand 
the  believer  is  taught  to  see  the  key  to  the  treasures  of  sal- 
vation and  to  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  The  Roman  system 
in  consequence  of  its  very  nature,  makes  it  impossible  for 
the  Christian  believer  to  be  assured  of  his  acceptance  with 
God.  In  harmony  with  this  statement  the  Council  of  Trent 
declared  that,  "while  no  one  ought  to  doubt  of  the  mercy 
of  God,  it  is  impossible  that  any  shall  have  complete  assur- 
ance that  he  has  secured  that  mercy." 

JV/iaf  Christian  life  and  experience  may  be  under  the 
Roman  system,  the  testimony  of  those  most  faithful  to  its 
commands  may  best  determine.  And  here  it  would  be  seen 
that  the  joy  of  conscious  salvation  and  the  highest  concep- 
tion of  Christian  privilege  are  to  be  found  only  in  those 
who  have  learned,  as  have  some  souls  all  through  the  ages,  to 
go  beyond  priest  and  sacrament  and  find  the  joy  of  pardon 
and  assured  hope  of  eternal  life  in  humble  dependence  upon 

98 


REPUBLICS  OF  THE  PLATA  RIVER 

the  promises  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ.  To  Martin  Luther, 
while  yet  seeking  as  the  humble  monk  faithful  to  all  the 
commands  of  his  order  yet  despairing  of  his  salvation,  there 
came  from  a  brother  monk,  whose  name  is  not  known,  but 
who  had  found  despite  traditional  teaching  the  direct  way 
of  access  to  the  throne  of  grace,  the  message,  "Brother 
Martin,  hast  thou  not  read  that  'the  just  shall  live  by 
faith  '  ?  "  Even  the  Superior  General  of  his  order  reminded 
him  in  his  despair  that  in  the  creed  he  must  daily  say,  "  I 
believe  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins."  It  is  the  universal  testi- 
mony that  it  is  only  in  the  acceptance  of  the  simple  truths 
of  the  gospel,  and  by  the  way  of  personal  faith  in  Christ 
that  a  human  soul  may  enter  into  the  conscious  possession 
of  salvation. 

Here,  then,  is  the  supreme  ?notzve  to  missionary  work 
among  Romanists.  It  is  found,  not  in  any  necessity  to 
teach  them  fundamental  truths  which  they  hold  in  common 
with  ourselves ;  nor  is  it  solely  for  the  purpose  of  social  re- 
form, though  that  will  undoubtedly  be  a  final  result.  It  is 
to  bear  testimony  to  what  we  believe  to  be  the  highest  priv- 
ileges of  the  Christian  believer,  to  those  who  claim,  as  do 
we,  the  Christian  name.  We  would  bear  to  them  the  joy 
we  ourselves  have  found  in  the  message  of  salvation  through 
faith  in  Christ  alone.  Hence  Protestant  missions  in  Roman 
Catholic  countries  are  not  destructive,  but  constructive,  in 
their  motive  and  end. 

II.  Missions  in  Paraguay.— I.  The  history  of  Par a- 
gtiay  offers  a  succession  of  events  of  the  most  striking  char- 
acter. Its  capital  city,  Asuncion,  was  the  first  permanent 
settlement  of  the  Spaniard  in  eastern  South  America.  An 
earlier  enterprise  which  sought  to  establish  a  colony  upon  the 
present  site  of  the  city  of  Buenos  Aires  had  been  over- 
whelmed  in   disaster.-     Asuncion   became,    and   for  many 

99 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

years  remained,  the  centre  of  Spanish  influence,  although 
situated  a  thousand  miles  from  tide  water.  After  the  Co- 
lonial period  followed  the  independent  national  life.  But  the 
Republic  was  such  only  in  name,  and  after  a  period  of  an- 
archy the  famous  Dr.  Francia  succeeded  in  establishing  him- 
self in  a  dictatorship  which  lasted  nearly  thirty  years.  Upon 
his  decease  his  authority  was  transmitted  to  the  Lopez  fam- 
ily. The  comparatively  mild  and  beneficent  authority  of 
the  elder  Lopez  became  in  the  hands  of  his  son  and  suc- 
cessor the  most  odious  of  tyrannies.  This  man  precipitated 
his  country  into  a  contest,  single-handed,  with  the  three  na- 
tions of  Brazil,  Argentina  and  Uruguay,  and  for  five  years 
sustained  his  authority  and  maintained  his  position  against 
the  allies  by  resorting  to  most  cruel  expedients.  His  peo- 
ple were  compelled  to  military  service,  without  regard  to  age 
and  almost  to  sex.  Every  breath  of  protest  was  suffocated 
by  the  halter  or  suppressed  by  inquisitorial  means.  In  the 
Five  Years*  War  it  is  estimated  that  seven-eighths  of  the 
population  perished  and  the  country  was  left  in  the  extreme 
depths  of  poverty.  After  it  was  over  it  was  found  that  there 
was  scarcely  one  man  to  six  women  left  alive. 

2.  This  period  of  anguish  led,  notwithstanding,  to  the 
opening  of  the  doors,  and  among  the  earliest  movements  of 
the  period  of  peace  was  one  looking  to  the  establishment  of 
a  Protestant  mission  in  that  country.  The  initiative  was 
taken  by  Paraguayans  themselves,  who  were  convinced  that 
the  future  welfare  of  their  country  could  not  have  much  to 
expect  from  an  ecclesiastical  organization  whose  prominent 
representatives  had  been  the  blind  instruments  of  the  tyranny 
of  Lopez.  An  invitation  was  sent  to  the  authorities  of  the 
Mission  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Buenos  Aires 
offering  the  use  of  a  valuable  property  in  the  centre  of  the 
capital  city,  provided  church  and  schools  should  be  at  once 

lOO 


REPUBLICS  OF  THE  PLATA  RIVER 

established.  This  was  early  in  the  seventies.  It  was  not 
until  1886,  however,  that  mission  work  was  formally  estab- 
lished. In  that  year  Dr.  Thomas  B.  Wood,  accompanied 
by  Rev.  John  Villanueva  reached  Asuncion.  The  work 
thus  inaugurated  has  continued  without  interruption  and  the 
friend  of  missions  would  find  in  this  closing  year  of  the 
century  an  organized  church  in  the  capital  of  the  Republic, 
with  others  associated  with  it  in  five  or  six  interior  villages. 
Two  schools,  for  boys  and  girls  respectively,  offer  facilities 
for  the  Christian  education  of  youth  and  are  attended  re- 
spectively by  150  and  130  pupils. 

3.  In  connection  with  this  mission  there  took  place  a 
memorable  conflict  for  the  vindication  of  the  civil  status  of 
Protestantisin.  Although  there  had  been  for  many  years  a 
not  inconsiderable  foreign  population  of  Protestant  origin 
there  was  no  provision  for  the  legal  recognition  of  marriages 
solemnized  by  others  than  priests  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  Through  many  months  of  incessant  toil  and  watch- 
fulness Dr.  Wood  conducted  a  campaign  which  resulted  in 
liberalizing  the  legislative  provisions  of  the  country  ;  so  that 
without  sacrifice  of  their  religious  conviction,  Protestants 
might  secure  the  sanction  of  the  civil  law  for  the  foundation 
of  their  families  and  homes.  As  a  result  many  of  those  who 
had  been  living  in  virtual  wedlock  without  such  sanction 
imm.ediately  set  themselves  right  before  the  community. 
Testimony  has  been  abundant  as  to  the  power  of  the  moral 
impulse  given  by  Protestantism.  In  a  field  so  full  of  inter- 
est the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  been  the  only  or- 
ganized missionary  agency  for  the  prosecution  of  evangelis- 
tic work  among  the  Paraguayan  people. 

4.  South  American  Missionary  Society. — The  work  of  the 
South  American  Missionary  Society  of  England,  has  re- 
sulted in  a  remarkable  triumph  in  connection  with  the  mis- 

lOI 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

sion  to  the  Chaco  Indians.  The  Society's  heroic  founder, 
Captain  Allen  Gardiner,  wrote  a  most  touching  address  to 
one  Chaco  tribe  as  he  lay  dying  at  Banner  Cove.  Yet 
thirty-seven  years  elapsed  before  the  first  party  departed  for 
the  Chaco.  When  in  1888  they  reached  the  field,  they 
found  that  the  way  had  been  prepared  by  an  age-old  tradi- 
tion that  some  day  men,  not  Indians  but  like  them,  should 
come  speaking  their  language  and  teaching  them  about  the 
spirit  world.  To  these  messengers,  great  respect  must  be 
paid. 

These  people  were  usually  so  lawless  and  bloodthirsty  that 
the  Paraguayan  Cabinet  desired  to  furnish  the  missionaries 
with  a  military  escort ;  and  judging  from  their  record  and 
their  cruel  customs,  such  as  burying  live  children  with  a 
dead  parent,  selling  children  of  slain  enemies,  etc.,  their  ap- 
prehensions were  well-founded.  The  party  went  unattended, 
however,  and  while  its  gallant  leader,  Mr.  W.  B.  Grubb, 
had  years  later  a  thrilling  escape  from  an  apparent  friend, 
life  has  been  graciously  spared. 

The  work  has  been  most  wearisome,  but  whether  suffer- 
ing from  the  fierce  sun,  or  wading  for  miles  waist-deep  in 
water,  these  gallant  Englishmen  have  not  murmured.  Their 
first  convert  was  baptized  in  1899,  and  many  others  are  un- 
dergoing preparation.  Two  stations,  the  central  one  with 
the  brief  name  of  Waikthlatingmangyalwa,  are  manned  and 
the  prospects  are  bright.  Travelers  and  the  Paraguayan 
press  testify  to  the  great  results  already  achieved — protection 
afforded  the  tribes  against  dishonest  traders  who  deal  in 
deadly  intoxicants,  the  saving  from  death  of  doomed  infants, 
and  winning  the  confidence  of  the  tribes  in  many  ways,  so 
that  one  finds  in  the  columns  of  "  La  Democracia "  this 
statement :  ''  The  pagans  have  no  laws.  But  yesterday  they 
would  have  exulted  in  the  death  of  a  white  man ;  to-day  the 


REPUBLICS  OF  THE  PLATA  RIVER 

same  people  rise  up  spontaneously  and  unbidden,  like  one 
man,  to  do  justly  and  punish  crime." 

IIL  Missions  in  Uruguay. — i.  Historical — As  though 
in  consequence  of  the  savage  courage  with  which  the  origi- 
nal inhabitants  of  the  northern  shores  of  the  Plata  repelled 
the  first  entrance  of  the  white  man  upon  their  territory, 
there  remain  no  traces  of  the  original  dwellers  in  that  beau- 
tiful region.  The  history  of  Uruguay  is  closely  interwoven 
with  that  of  Argentina  and  Brazil.  It  stands  as  ^  *'  Buffer 
State  "  between  these  two  competitors  for  the  first  place  in 
the  list  of  South  American  nations,  and  for  control  of  the 
great  water-way  through  which  access  must  be  had  to  the  in- 
terior of  the  continent.  Although  the  decree  of  Pope  Alex- 
ander VI.,  adjudging  to  Portugal  all  regions  discovered  and 
colonized  to  the  eastward  of  a  given  meridian  and  to  Spain 
all  territory  to  the  westward,  was  intended  to  preserve  peace 
between  the  competing  crowns,  it  proved  a  source  of  con- 
tinual conflict.  Under  that  decree  Uruguay  would  have 
fallen  to  Portugal  and  Portugal  claimed  it.  Spain,  how- 
ever, saw  that  her  control  of  her  own  possessions  on  the 
continent  required  the  command  of  the  Plata  River. 
Hence  her  resistance  to  Portugal's  claim.  Brazil  and  Ar- 
gentina inherited  the  contention  which  had  led  to  armed 
conflict  between  their  mother  countries.  The  population  of 
Uruguay  was  Spanish,  but  Brazil  established  and  long 
maintained' a  fortified  post  on  the  banks  of  the  great  river 
near  the  junction  of  its  main  tributaries.  When  independ- 
ence was  established,  the  Uruguayans  conceived  the  desire 
to  maintain  themselves  in  separate  national  existence.  Her 
Immortal  Thirty  Three  vindicated  the  claim  and,  aided  by 
the  mutual  jealousies  of  her  powerful  neighbors,  Uruguay, 
otherwise  called  The  Oriental  Republic  of  Uruguay,  came 
to  be  one  of  the  family  of  South  American  nations.     Her 

103 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

independence  is  guaranteed,  not  so  much  by  her  own  in- 
ternal resources,  nor  by  the  courage  of  her  sons  proven  on 
many  a  battlefield,  as  by  the  fact  that  the  peace  of  South 
America  demands  that  neither  Brazil  nor  Argentina  shall 
have  control  of  the  Plata  River.  Hence  the  existence  of 
Uruguay  as  a  '^  Buffer  State." 

2.  With  her  840,000  inhabitants  enjoying  the  abundant 
wealth  of  her  natural  resources,  Uruguay  is  one  of  the  most 
prosperous  and  progressive  of  South  American  countries. 
Her  capital  city,  Montevideo y  with  over  250,000  inhabi- 
tants, is  one  of  the  handsomest  cities  in  all  America,  North 
or  South.  Situated  near  the  mouth  of  the  great  river,  with 
dozens  of  steamship  lines  maintaining  connection  with  dis- 
tant Europe  and  North  America,  this  city  receives  and  re- 
flects all  that  is  most  progressive  in  the  material  civilization 
of  our  age.  She  has  also  responded  to  the  movements  of 
thought  which  have  made  her  one  of  the  most  intelligent  and 
liberal  communities  in  South  America.  As  is  Montevideo, 
so  are  the  beautiful  towns  which  stud  Uruguay's  interior, 
united  to  the  capital  by  the  steel  of  her  railways. 

3.  Let  us  rapidly  review  the  present  status  of  Protestant- 
ism in  Uruguay.  Pursuing  this  investigation,  we  land  first 
in  the  capital  city  to  find  close  by  the  sea-wall,  overlooking 
the  broad  expanse  of  river  and  ocean,  a  substantial  edifice 
which  represents  the  existence  of  the  Church  of  England^ 
ministering  to  the  large  number  of  English-speaking  residents 
of  that  communion.  Its  Lafone  Hall,  an  assembly  room 
attached  to  the  church  proper,  perpetuates  the  name  and 
the  faith  of  an  English  gentleman  who  recognized  the  re- 
sponsibility of  a  Christian  man  to  perpetuate  the  faith  in 
which  he  himself  had  been  reared.  In  the  earliest  period 
of  the  history  of  Protestantism  in  South  America,  Mr. 
Lafone  devoted  his  wealth  and  his  personal  influence  to  the 

104 


REPUBLICS  OF  THE  PLATA  RIVER 

movement  which  he  believed  indispensable  to  the  highest 
welfare  of  his  adopted  country.  At  Fray  Bentos,  the  site 
of  the  famous  factories  whence  comes  the  world-known 
Liebig's  Extract,  and  in  El  Salto,  there  exist  other  commu- 
nities of  the  Church  of  England. 

In  the  midst  of  the  fruitful  wheat  region  of  southern 
Uruguay  flourishing  colonies  from  northern  Italy  maintain 
the  organized  existence  of  the  Waldensian  Churchy  that 
church  which  maintained  through  all  the  centuries  of  the 
Dark  Ages  the  fires  of  evangelical  faith  in  the  Alpine  val- 
leys of  northern  Italy.  The  work  of  the  Waldensian 
Church  comprises  a  central  pastorate  in  the  Waldensian 
colony  with  some  six  congregations  organized  in  places  to 
which  offshoots  from  this  community  have  gone. 

In  Montevideo,  Paysandu  and  El  Salto  the  Salvation 
Army  has  unfurled  its  standard.  Among  some  of  the  Ger- 
man and  Swiss  colonies  are  to  be  found  organized  congre- 
gations of  the  Reformed  Faith  and  these  recognize  as  their 
representative  in  the  capital  the  Luthern  Churchy  which 
holds  its  worship  in  the  language  of  Luther  and  uses  Luther's 
Bible. 

Most  widely  extended  of  all  the  organized  movements  of 
Protestantism  in  Uruguay  is  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Churchy 
distinguished  by  the  fact  that  its  largest  work,  both  in  church 
and  school,  is  conducted  in  the  vernacular,  the  Spanish 
language.  Its  central  church  in  Montevideo,  founded  by 
the  Rev.  J.  F.  Thomson,  D.  D.,  in  1868,  stands  as  the  cen- 
tre of  a  group  of  churches,  or  congregations,  situated  in 
different  portions  of  the  same  city,  six  in  number.  The 
weekly  attendance  upon  services  may  be  stated  at  800.  In 
its  Sunday-schools  are  not  less  than  600  children  and  youth. 
Its  Boys*  High  School  wins  patronage  from  many  influential 
families;  its  Girls*  College  is  attended  by  150  pupils.     The 

105 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

interior  stations  of  this  mission  are  to  be  found  in  the  im- 
portant departmental  towns  of  Durazno,  Trinidad  and  El 
Salto.  From  these  centres  lines  of  itinerant  service  reach 
many  smaller  villages  and  the  central  establishments  of  large 
estates  devoted  to  the  cattle  industry.  The  history  of  this 
mission  with  the  testimony  of  many  of  those  who  have 
found  the  impulse  and  power  of  a  new  life  attests  both  the 
need  and  the  success  of  the  work. 

IV.  Argentina. — i.  Natural  Advantages. — The  Argen- 
tine Republic,  by  its  geographical  position,  its  vast  extent, 
its  situation  in  the  temperate  zone,  the  variety  and  rich- 
ness of  its  natural  products  seems  destined  to  be  the  radial 
point  of  civilization  in  the  Southern  Hemisphere.  In  all 
the  particulars  suggested,  its  position  bears  closest  analogy 
to  that  of  the  United  States  in  the  Northern  Hemisphere. 
Its  territory  extends  from  the  Tropic  of  Capricorn  to  within 
ten  degrees  of  the  Antarctic  Circle.  Its  extensive  seaboard 
on  the  Atlantic  assures  its  ready  communication  with  all  the 
centres  of  modern  civilization.  Its  river  system,  including 
the  Plata,  the  Parana,  the  Rio  Negro,  the  Rio  Colorado, 
and  the  Santa  Cruz  provides  the  water  ways  for  internal 
commerce.  Its  climate  is  most  favorable  to  the  strongest 
development,  physical  and  intellectual,  of  its  inhabitants. 

The  invitation  that  Argentina  offers  to  immigration  be- 
cause of  the  above  facts  may  be  estimated  by  the  fact  that 
European  immigrants  to  its  territory  greatly  exceed  in  num- 
bers those  who  come  to  the  United  States,  in  proportion  to 
the  respective  populations.  In  a  single  year  nearly  300,000 
immigrants,  chiefly  from  Southern  Europe,  entered  this 
country,  and  this  movement  of  population  has  not  ceased  at 
any  time  during  the  periods  of  financial  depression  which 
have  succeeded  one  another  in  that  region. 

2.  In  its  history  Argentina  h^s  given  indications  of  the 
106 


REPUBLICS  OF  THE  PLATA  RIVER 

leading  position  it  is  destined  to  hold  among  the  Latin  popu- 
lations of  the  new  world.  First  of  Spanish  Colonies  in 
South  America  to  vindicate  its  independence,  Argentina 
became  the  leader  and  liberator  of  neighboring  peoples. 
Her  sons,  organized  into  an  army  of  liberty,  carried  her 
triumphs  over  Spanish  dominion  far  into  the  regions  of  the 
Upper  Andes  in  Bolivia.  Under  the  leadership  of  General 
San  Martin,  they  passed  the  summits  of  the  Andes  in  a 
march  comparable  with  that  of  Hannibal  in  crossing  the 
Alps,  and  gave  independence  to  Chile.  Borne  upon  the 
waters  of  the  Pacific  these  men  carried  their  arms  into  Peru 
and,  in  the  final  battle  of  Ayacucho,  gave  victory  to  the 
cause  of  independence. 

3.  Closely  bound  to  Europe  by  the  highways  of  com- 
merce, Argentina  was  the  first  to  receive  the  ideas  of 
progress  and  religious  freedom.  Her  institutions  are  the 
most  liberal  and  her  policy  the  most  progressive  of  any 
country  of  Spanish  America.  The  Reverend  John  F. 
Thomson  for  forty-five  years  a  resident  of  that  country, 
summarizes  its  characteristics  in  the  following  paragraphs : 
"Argentina  is  the  land  of  plenty ;  plenty  of  room  and 
plenty  of  food.  If  the  actual  population  were  divided  into 
families  of  ten  persons,  each  would  have  a  farm  of  eight 
square  miles,  with  ten  horses,  fifty-four  cows  and  186  sheep, 
and  after  they  had  eaten  their  fill  of  bread  they  would  have 
half  a  ton  of  wheat  and  corn  to  sell  or  send  to  the  hungry 
nations.  There  is  for  all  an  abundance  of  peaches,  oranges, 
grapes  and  figs.  Where  there  is  one  such  family  now,  forty, 
if  they  will  cultivate  the  eight  miles,  may  live  opulently  in 
the  future. 

"  The  climate  is  incomparable,  that  of  Los  Angeles  not  ex- 
cepted. For  250  days  in  the  year  there  is  nothing  to  be 
seen  in  the  sky  but  the  white  and  blue  of  the  Argentine  flag 

107 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

— no  dark  clouds  nor  angry  storms.  The  winters  are  mild, 
snow  falling  only  in  the  extreme  south  or  in  the  higher  spurs 
of  the  Andes.  The  summer  heat,  which  in  most  of  the 
country  is  no  greater  than  that  of  Washington,  is  never 
charged  with  humidity,  and  is,  therefore,  helpful  and  not 
harmful  to  life.  Would  that  I  could  tell  the  following  fact 
to  the  thousands  of  my  fellow  creatures  who,  though  pos- 
sessed of  ample  means,  are  wasting  under  the  cruel  blight 
of  pulmonary  consumption.  In  the  hills  of  Cordeba,  thirty 
hours'  journey  from  the  port  of  Buenos  Aires,  we  have  a 
heaven-made  sanitarium.  If  those  in  whose  lungs  tuber- 
culosis has  already  made  considerable  progress,  would  throw 
drugs  to  the  dogs  and  go  into  those  hills  and  only  breathe, 
every  breath  would  bring  them  life  and  respite  from  pain. 

^'  The  United  States,  Russia,  and  India  must  reckon  with 
Argentina  as  a  wheat  producer.  With  a  population  of  less 
than  5,000,000  she  already  exports  100,000  tons  of  that 
grain  in  a  year.  It  is  a  delight  often  met  with  there  to  look 
on  a  field  of  twenty  square  miles,  with  the  golden  ears  stand- 
ing even  and  close  together,  and  not  a  weed  nor  a  stump  of  a 
tree  nor  a  stone  as  big  as  a  man's  fist  to  be  seen  or  found  in 
the  whole  area." 

The  significance  of  its  position  in  the  co?nmercial  world 
he  states  as  follows  :  *'  The  United  States  is  far  from  being 
awake  to  her  commercial  interests  in  South  America.  Let 
me  give  you  some  facts :  You  ought  to  make  hats  as  good 
and  cheap  as  anybody.  Argentina  buys  4,000  dozen  every 
year  from  England  and  only  260  dozen  from  you.  Of 
boots  and  shoes  in  whose  manufacture  you  lead  the  world, 
6,534  dozen  pairs  are  annually  imported  from  France,  Italy 
and  England,  and  only  137  dozen  from  this  country. 
Argentina  produces  the  finest  clothing  wool  to  be  found  in 
the  world.     The   United  States  ought  to,  and  some  day 

108 


REPUBLICS  OF  THE  PLATA  RIVER 

will,  seek  to  buy  every  ounce  of  that  wool,  work  it  into 
cloth  and  sell  it  to  the  people  in  all  this  western  continent. 
This  is  one  of  the  greatest  manufactures  and  business  enter- 
prises that  yet  lie  invitingly  but  undeveloped  before  you." 

Her  status  as  the  liberator  of  the  continent  and  the  leader 
in  all  movements  of  progress  is  thus  summarized : 
"Argentina  stands  in  South  America,  not  only  as  the  first 
free  nation,  but  as  the  liberator  and  founder  of  other  nations 
that  to-day  are  free,  and  well  may  the  lovers  of  freedom  in 
the  whole  Latin  race  be  proud  of  her.  But  she  is  also  the 
first  in  educational  advantages.  Her  public  schools,  her 
colleges  and  universities  are  the  best  in  the  Spanish-speak- 
ing world.  About  thirty  years  ago  when  General  Sarmiento 
was  in  Washington  as  Argentina  minister,  he  was  elected 
President  by  his  fellow-citizens.  He  took  up  the  exalted 
duties  of  his  office  full  of  the  inspirations  he  had  received  in 
this  country  and  one  of  the  first  things  he  did  was  to  give 
Dr.  William  Goodfellow,  an  American  missionary  returning 
to  the  United  States,  a  commission  to  send  out  a  number  of 
educated  women  to  establish  normal  schools  in  Argentina, 
which  they  did,  and  were  royally  rewarded  for  their  labor. 
That  the  deserving  poor  might  not  be  deterred  from  the 
privileges  of  that  kind  of  training,  numerous  scholarships 
were  established,  the  holders  of  which  received  ^300  a  year 
from  the  government  and  all  the  books  they  needed  in  a 
five  years'  course  of  study.  As  the  result  of  the  good  work 
going  on  for  the  third  of  a  century  there  are  more  highly 
educated  young  women  in  that  republic  than  in  any  other 
country  in  South  America.  Similar  institutions  exist  for 
young  men,  and  the  government  is  exceedingly  generous  in 
the  encouragement  of  talent  in  every  useful  department  of 
study." 

In  view  of  the  facts  thus  brought  forward,  it  is  not  too 
109 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

much  to  say  that  Argentina  offers  the  most  inviting  field  for 
missionary  effort  to-day. 

4.  Beginnings. — The  history  of  Protestant  missions  in 
Argentina  many  be  divided  into  three  periods  :  First,  move- 
ments in  preparation,  from  1820  to  1867 ;  second,  the 
inception  of  work  in  the  Spanish  language,  from  1867  to 
1870 ;  third,  the  period  of  rapid  development,  beginning 
with  the  year  1870. 

During  the  first  of  these  periods  no  evangelistic  work 
could  be  undertaken  in  the  Spanish  tongue.  The  decrees 
of  the  dictator,  Rosas,  forbade  all  propagandism  and  the 
circulation  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  popular  language. 
Hence  the  only  representative  of  Protestantism  during  this 
period  were  churches  organized  for  worship  in  the  English 
language,  with  here  and  there  similar  churches  in  the 
Protestant  colonies  of  German  and  Swiss  origin.  Such 
work  began  about  the  year  1820  under  the  leadership 
of  English  residents  of  the  city  of  Buenos  Aires.  The 
first  Protestant  mission  in  that  city  was  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  The  large  English  population  led  early  to  the 
establishment  of  chaplaincies  and  later  of  regularly  organ- 
ized parishes  under  the  auspices  of  the  Church  of  England 
and  of  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  Church. 

Some  of  the  earliest  movements  of  Protestantism  were 
under  the  auspices  of  the  American  and  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Societies.  Their  agents  and  colporteurs  car- 
ried the  Word  of  God  far  and  wide  and  prepared  the  way 
for  the  larger  movements  that  were  destined  to  take  place  in 
the  later  years.  The  first  recorded  expression  of  a  desire 
for  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  in  the  Spanish  language 
dates  from  1864,  when  the  Reverend  Mr.  Milne,  agent  of 
the  American  Bible  Society,  received  such  an  expression  on 
the  part  of  one  to  whom  he  had  offered  the  Scriptures. 

no 


REPUBLICS  OF  THE  PLATA  RIVER 

In  the  city  of  Buenos  Aires,  in  response  to  this  and  other 
requests,  was  begun  the  evangelistic  movement  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Under  the 
ministry  of  the  Reverend  William  Goodfellow  there  had 
been  brought  into  the  Church  John  F.  Thomson,  from 
childhood  a  resident  of  Argentina,  whose  education  in  a 
college  of  the  United  States  had  fitted  him  for  the  employ- 
ment of  his  eminent  abilities  in  the  service  of  his  adopted 
country.  The  larger  development  of  the  work  began  about 
the  year  1870,  under  the  leadership  of  Reverend  Drs.  H. 
G.  Jackson,  Thomas  B.  Wood  and  John  F.  Thomson. 

5.  Let  us  pass  in  review  t\\Q  prese?it  status  of  Protest- 
antism in  this  vast  territory.  And  here  must  be  placed  first 
the  work  of  the  Bible  Societies.  The  attention  accorded  to  the 
Word  of  God  may  be  estimated  from  the  fact  that  the 
Scriptures  have  been  circulated  and  eagerly  received  through- 
out the  territory  of  Argentina.  The  spirit  of  tolerance,  the 
result  of  the  progressive  spirit  of  the  people  and  their 
liberality,  is  shown  by  the  almost  entire  absence  of  fanatical 
hostility  or  violence  during  the  whole  history  of  missions  in 
Argentina. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  scope  of  mission  work  is 
determined  by  the  fact  that,  together  with  the  large  numbers 
of  immigrants  from  Southern  Europe,  chiefly  of  Latin  race, 
are  to  be  found  in  considerable  numbers  people  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  and  Teutonic  origin.  From  the  early  decades  of  this 
century  many  English  merchants,  bankers,  artisans,  and 
Scotch  and  Irish  sheep  farmers  sought  a  home  in  this 
hospitable  region.  In  recent  years  the  number  of  English 
residents  has  largely  increased  ;  so  that  it  may  be  said  that 
in  Buenos  Aires,  and  the  country  immediately  tributary  to 
that  city,  there  are  not  less  than  20,000  English-speaking 
people.     Many  colonies   in  the  interior,  as  well  as  com- 

iix 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

mercial  circles  in  the  large  cities,  include  many  Germans 
and  Swiss. 

Hence  the  work  of  Protestantism  in  Argentina  is  two- 
fold. It  must  take  care  of  its  own,  establishing  churches 
and  schools  for  the  religious  and  intellectual  culture  of 
English-speaking  people  and  those  of  other  nationalities 
whose  religious  faith  is  that  of  Protestantism.  It  must  also 
respond  to  the  eager  welcome  held  out  by  large  numbers  in 
the  native  communities  to  the  gospel  message.  Its  action 
in  this  latter  phase  is  therefore  of  the  nature  of  religious 
propaganda. 

Of  this  second  department  of  Christian  work  it  should  be 
said  that  it  would  be  tmtrue  to  the  facts  to  regard  Protest- 
ant missions  as  priinarily  of  proselytizing  tendency.  The 
truth  is  that  in  Argentina,  as  in  all  other  communities  of 
Spanish  America,  there  is  a  very  widespread  estrangement 
on  the  part  of  the  people  from  the  traditional  faith.  It  can 
no  longer  be  said  that  these  countries  are  strictly,  much  less 
exclusively,  Roman  Catholic.  The  revolt  of  intelligent  and 
well-educated  men  against  Rome  is  very  general,  and  has 
led  multitudes  into  the  position  of  unbelievers  or  of  those 
entirely  indifferent  to  religious  teaching  and  duty.  Among 
the  masses  of  the  population  there  is  little  knowledge  of,  and 
widespread  indifference  to,  Christian  truth.  Rome  has  lost 
her  hold  upon  large  numbers  of  these  communicants,  and 
this  is  not  the  work  of  Protestant  propaganda,  but  the  re- 
action produced  by  Roman  dogma  and  practice.  The 
enterprise  which  undertakes  the  proclamation  of  Christian 
truth  and  the  establishment  of  the  institutions  of  a  pure 
Christianity  in  Argentina  is  not  destructive,  but  rather  con- 
structive in  its  nature.  The  gospel  is  to  be  preached  to 
those  who  know  it  not,  or  who  have  been  carried  away  by 
infidelity  and  indifferentism. 

112 


REPUBLICS  OF  THE  PLATA  RIVER 

It  would  also  be  a  misrepresentation  of  the  nature  of  the 
Protestant  movement  to  hold  it  as  an  intrusion,  unsought 
and  undesired,  into  the  territory  of  another  form  of  Chris- 
tian belief.  Every  important  movement  of  Protestantism  in 
these  countries  has  had  its  origin  in  the  response  to  a  call 
coming  from  these  countries  themselves  and  from  the  native 
people.  Everywhere  are  to  be  found  those  who  long  for 
better  things  and  who  have  sent  out  their  cry  into  the 
Christian  world  until  at  last  it  has  been  heard  and  heeded. 

6.  The  natural  centre  and  radial  point  for  all  intellectual 
and  moral  movements  in  the  River  Plata  countries  is  the 
great  city  of  Buenos  Aires.  As  the  commercial  emporium, 
the  political  capital  and  the  social  centre,  it  holds  a  preeminent 
position  and  exerts  a  widespread  influence.  Sooner  or  later 
everybody  gets  to  Buenos  Aires.  Any  movement,  there- 
fore, which  makes  itself  heard  in  the  capital  will  send  out 
its  echoes  to  the  farthest  borders  of  the  republic.  This  city 
of  more  than  750,000  inhabitants,  with  its  vast  trade  and 
commerce,  its  culture  and  its  social  prestige,  offers  an  in- 
viting field.  Conditions  are  the  more  favorable  in  con- 
sequence of  the  presence  of  large  numbers  of  newcomers. 
Here  are  to  be  found  not  less  than  300,000  Italians,  100,000 
Spaniards  from  the  Peninsula,  with  many  others  of  various  na- 
tionalities. The  population  is  in  a  constant  state  of  change. 
Humanity  in  vast  masses  is  here  in  motion.  Multitudes 
have  been  transplanted  from  the  homes  of  their  childhood 
and  the  traditional  influences  which  there  surrounded  them 
into  a  new  atmosphere,  where  there  is  much  to  stimulate 
thought,  to  arouse  inquiry  and  to  inspire  with  the  purpose 
of  a  new  life.  It  is,  therefore,  possible  to  secure  for 
the  gospel  a  wide  hearing  under  most  favorable  circum- 
stances. It  consequently  comes  to  pass  that  in  this  great 
city,  besides  its  churches  for  English  and  German  Protestant 

"3 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

residents,  there  are  to  be  found  in  Spanish-speaking  congre- 
gations enough  converted  Spaniards  to  make  a  large  church 
in  Madrid,  enough  ItaHans  to  form  a  body  of  Christian  wit- 
nesses for  Rome  herself,  while  others  of  many  nationalities 
have  heard  and  received  the  message. 

The  Church  of  England  has  here  its  original  congrega- 
tion, St.  John's,  from  which  they  have  gone  out  to  the  im- 
mediate suburbs  in  Barracas,  Quilmes,  Flores,  Belgrano  and 
San  Martin.  All  these  minister  to  English-speaking  people. 
But  the  mother  Church  of  the  English  Reformation  is  not 
wholly  unmindful  of  her  origin  and  her  mission.  Under 
the  direction  of  the  Rev.  William  C.  Morris  and  the  pat- 
ronage of  the  South  American  Missionary  Society,  of  Lon- 
don, there  has  been  established  in  the  Palermo  district  a 
numerous  congregation  with  schools  frequented  by  almost 
I, GOO  children. 

The  Church  of  Luther  has  also  its  exponent  in  this  cos- 
mopolitan city,  while  the  gospel  is  preached  in  the  French 
language  by  a  minister  who  came  forth  from  the  Reformed 
Church  of  France. 

The  recent  tendency  to  isolated  individual  enterprise  in 
connection  with  Christian  missions  has  manifested  itself  in 
the  presence  of  several  Christian  gentlemen  who,  while  sup- 
porting themselves,  have  embarked  in  Christian  work.  In- 
fluences going  forth  from  Harley  House,  London,  and  the 
Keswick  Movement  are  here  bearing  valuable  fruit.  Con- 
gregations, Sunday-schools  and  the  Quilmes  Orphanage 
represent  this  movement.  The  standard  of  the  Salvation 
Army  has  also  been  unfurled  in  this,  the  second  metropolis  of 
the  Latin  race.  Mission  halls,  and  rescue  work,  with  all 
the  characteristic  features  of  that  religious  movement,  are 
here  to  be  found. 

Of  all  the  organized  agencies  of  Protestantism  that  which 
114 


REPUBLICS  OF  THE  PLATA  RIVER 

has  most  widely  extended  its  influence  among  the  Spanish- 
speaking  people  of  this  city,  is  the  missw?i  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Board.  Its  mother  church,  established  in  1836, 
continues  its  work  with  unabated  zeal.  It  has  its  offshoots 
in  Enghsh  work  in  what  is  called  ''  The  Boca"  or  maritime 
section  of  the  city,  and  in  Lomas  de  Zamora.  Its  larger 
activities  date  from  the  year  1887  and  have  resulted  in  the 
establishment  of  some  six  Spanish-speaking  congregations, 
grouped  around  the  central  church  which  occupies  the 
handsome  building  erected  by  the  missionary  board.  The 
Women's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  has  here  established  a 
Girls'  Boarding  and  Day  School,  supported  by  the  Christian 
women  of  the  United  States. 

7.  Proceeding  along  the  great  highways  afforded  by  the 
development  of  railway  construction  and  by  the  gift  of  na- 
ture in  the  great  river,  missionary  work  has  reached  almost 
every  province  in  the  Republic.  In  Rosarioy  the  new 
Chicago  of  the  South,  are  to  be  found  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  the  Salvation 
Army,  each  prosecuting  its  work  in  both  English  and  Span- 
ish. Proceeding  up  the  river  Parana,  on  its  right  bank  at 
the  City  of  Parana,  capital  of  the  Argentine  Mesopotamia, 
is  another  centre  of  mission  work  established  by  the  Metho- 
dist Church,  whose  lines  of  influence  have  extended  to  other 
places  in  this  wealthy  province,  such  as  La  Paz,  Tala,  Colon, 
and  Concordia.  Westward  from  Buenos  Aires  the  lines  of 
influence  have  reached  the  far  distant  mountain  walls  of  the 
Andes.  In  the  cities  of  Mendoza,  and  San  Juan, — capitals 
of  provinces  of  the  same  names, — as  well  as  in  the  city 
San  Luis,  are  Methodist  churches.  The  traditional  centre 
of  learning  and  church  influence  in  Cordova  has  opened  its 
doors  to  the  messengers  of  peace ;  while  far  to  the  north- 
ward, Tucuman  and  other  places  have  not  been  forgotten. 

"5 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

The  great  province  of  Buenos  Aires  in  its  capital  city,  La 
Plata,  and  in  its  department  towns,  Mercedes,  Chivicoy, 
Dolores,  Balcarce  and  Bahia  Blanca,  are  centres  of  Prot- 
estant influence.  Far  to  the  southward  in  the  valley  of  the 
Chiihtct  river  are  to  be  found  the  homes  of  numerous  Welsh 
farmers,  whose  pioneers  entered  into  conflict  with  the  wilder- 
ness and  have  made  it  to  blossom  like  the  rose.  These 
faithful  Christians  have  carried  with  them  their  Bibles  and 
their  faith. 

8.  Still  farther  to  the  southward  almost  where  the  storms 
beat  forever  over  the  bold  headland  of  Cape  Horn,  in  the 
wild  regions  of  Fuegia,  are  the  missions  which  have  grown 
out  of  the  heroic  sacrifice  of  Captain  Allen  Gardiner.  Dar- 
win himself  confessed  that  the  success  of  this  mission  was  a 
complete  answer  to  his  skepticism  as  to  the  possibilities  of 
the  race  which  inhabited  that  desolate  region.  To  the  South 
A77ie7'ica7t  Missio7iary  Society  belongs  the  honor  of  having 
maintained  this  lighthouse  at  the  extreme  south  of  the  con- 
tinent amidst  a  pagan  darkness. 

9.  Thus  Protestantism  has  responded  to  the  call ;  has  set 
in  motion  the  influences  growing  out  of  the  proclamation  of 
the  gospel  of  Christ ;  and  has  achieved  in  eastern  South 
America  the  only  valid  demonstration  of  the  Divine  author- 
ity and  power  of  the  religion  of  Christ — its  fruits  in  the 
heart  and  life  of  those  who  have  received  it. 


116 


CHILE 


VI 

CHILE 
By  Rev.  Ira  H.  La  Fetra 

Santiago,  Chile 
For  Twenty -two  years  a  Missionary  in  South  America 

I.  Name.— The  origin  of  the  name  Chile,  is  uncertain. 
At  the  time  of  the  conquest  of  Peru,  all  the  region  lying 
to  the  south  of  the  land  of  the  Incas  was  known  to  them 
and  to  the  other  aboriginal  peoples  inhabiting  the  highlands 
of  Bolivia  by  this  name.  The  word  chile  in  the  Quechua, 
the  language  of  the  early  inhabitants  of  a  great  part  of 
Bolivia  and  Peru,  means  frost  or  cold,  and  was  probably 
given  to  the  regions  of  the  far  south  on  account  of  their 
colder  climate  and  vast  snow-covered  mountain  ranges. 

n.  Geography.— I.  Z^r^//^?z.— Chile  is  the  most  south- 
erly of  the  republics  of  South  America.  It  occupies  the 
narrow  strip  of  territory  lying  between  the  Andes  and  the 
Pacific.  It  extends  from  the  Sama  river  on  the  north  to 
Cape  Horn,  and  includes  all  the  straits  of  Magellan  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  island  of  Tierra  del  Fuego.  It  is  nearly 
2,700  miles  long,  but  its  average  breadth  is  less  than  200 
miles. 

2.  The  northern  zone,  reaching  800  miles  to  the  Huasco 
river,  is  a  rainless  desert  with  no  vegetation  except  in  the 
small  valleys  lying  at  the  foot  of  the  Andes,  where  streams 
make  fertile  a  few  square  miles.  The  weather  is  mild  and 
equable  during  the  whole  of  the  year.     There  are  points  on 

119 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

the  coast  where  the  temperature  does  not  vary  more  than 
fifteen  degrees  during  the  year. 

3.  The  central  zone,  stretching  800  miles  farther  south  to 
the  Nueva  Imperial  river,  is  largely  agricultural ;  but  over  a 
large  part  the  rainfall  is  not  sufficient  for  the  crops.  Irri- 
gation on  an  extensive  scale  is  employed.  In  the  mountain 
valleys  the  winters  are  cold  enough  for  frosts  but  on  the 
coast  this  temperature  is  not  reached. 

4.  The  southern  zone  has  abundant  rainfall ;  much  of  it 
is  well  wooded  and  affords  excellent  grazing  and  wheat  lands 
when  cleared.  Large  sections  of  it  are  occupied  by  the 
aboriginal  race  of  Indians,  who  still  live  as  they  have 
lived  from  prehistoric  times.  At  the  far  south  the  winter  is 
severe. 

III.  Mineral  Products, — i.  The  three  northern  prov- 
inces contain  the  wonderfully  rich  deposits  of  nitrate  of  soda^ 
or  Chile  saltpetre,  which  have  yielded  so  many  fortunes  and 
are  still  a  chief  source  of  revenue  for  the  Chilean  govern- 
ment. These  deposits  lie  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Coast 
Range  and  were  undoubtedly  left  by  the  evaporation  of  an 
inland  sea,  formed  when  the  Andes,  which  are  of  newer 
geological  formation  than  the  Coast  Range,  were  lifted  from 
the  depths  of  the  Atlantic. 

The  nitrate,  which  is  one  of  the  best  of  known  fertilizers, 
resembles  common  salt  in  appearance ;  the  deposits  are  from 
one  to  five  metres  thick  and  are  covered  with  the  drifted 
sand  and  dirt  from  the  hills.  In  1899  some  3,000,000  tons 
were  exported,  and  it  is  calculated  that  this  amount  can  be 
taken  out  annually  for  the  next  fifty  years.  Why  nitrate 
should  have  been  deposited  from  an  evaporating  inland  sea 
is  yet  a  mystery.  The  most  probable  theory  is  that  the 
common  salt  then  deposited,  has,  by  some  chemical  proc- 
ess in  that  desert  region,  given  up  its  chlorine  and  taken 

120 


CHILE 

oxygen  and  nitrogen  from  the  air  under  electric  or  other 
influence. 

2.  Other  Mining  Products. — Copper  is  found  in  great 
abundance  throughout  nearly  the  whole  extent  of  the  two 
northern  zones.  Many  rich  mines  are  worked  and  numer- 
ous others  of  low  grade  ore  are  awaiting  foreign  enterprise 
and  better  methods  of  extracting.  Silver  mines  of  great 
value  are  worked  in  the  northern  zone,  and  others  with  al- 
most millions  in  sight  lie  idle  for  lack  of  capital.  Gold, 
lead,  mercury,  manganese  and  other  metals  are  found. 
Borax  is  a  source  of  wealth.  Marble  of  beautiful  grade  is 
quarried.  In  the  southern  central  zone  are  extensive  de- 
posits of  coal. 

IV.  Agriculture.—  Wheat  of  excellent  quality  is  grown 
in  large  quantities  in  the  central  zone  and  as  an  article  of 
export  is  second  only  to  the  minerals.  There  are  vast  areas 
devoted  to  grape  culture,  and  wine  is  an  important  article 
of  export.  Barley,  oats,  corn,  rye,  alfalfa,  flax  and  hemp 
are  grown  for  domestic  use.  All  the  semi-tropical  fruits ^ 
oranges,  lemons,  figs,  cherimoyas,  lucumas  and  other  native 
fruits,  as  well  as  apples,  peaches,  pears,  apricots,  nectarines 
and  melons  are  extensively  raised. 

Wool  and  hides  are  shipped  out  of  the  country,  and  in 
the  far  south  much  timber  is  cut. 

V.  Industries. — i.  Comparatively  little  manufacturing 
is  done  in  the  country,  although  various  raw  materials  are 
at  hand.  Until  recently  no  attempt  was  made  to  foster 
national  industries  by  protective  duties.  Since  the  adop- 
tion of  a  protective  system  numerous  small  and  some  large 
factories  are  growing  up. 

2.  Present  Manufactures. — Mining  machinery,  agricul- 
tural implements,  railway  locomotives,  street,  passenger  and 
freight  .cars,  carriages  and  wagons,  sawmills  and  flouring 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

mills,  woolen  goods,  wrapping  papers,  cardboard,  envelopes, 
paper  sacks,  shoes,  etc.,  are  now  manufactured,  some  of  them 
in  quantities  sufficient  to  supply  the  whole  country. 

VI.  Commerce. —  i.  Character  and  Location. — The 
commerce  of  a  country  is  very  largely  determined  by  the 
nature  of  its  products.  The  greater  part  of  the  Chile  com- 
merce is  devoted  to  export  and  import  trade,  although  there 
is  a  large  amount  of  business  done  between  the  ports  along 
the  desert  mining  region  and  those  farther  south  in  the 
agricultural  districts. 

2.  Ports. —  Valparaiso  is  the  chief  distributing  centre, 
although  Concepcion  nine  miles  from  its  port,  Talcahuano, 
and  Iqidque,  import  largely,  the  former  being  the  centre  of 
the  wheat  interests,  and  the  latter  of  the  nitrate  industry. 
Other  ports  are  Coquimbo,  Caldera,  Huasco,  Chanaral, 
Lota,  Coronel,  Valdivia  and  Puerto  Montt. 

3.  The  imports  include  nearly  everything  used  in  the  fam- 
ily and  the  industries  except  agricultural  products,  and  raw 
materials.  The  wholesale  business  is  chiefly  in  the  hands 
of  the  English  and  German  merchants  and  retail  business 
in  the  hands  of  the  French,  Italian  and  Spanish  tradesmen. 

VII.  Population. — i.  Principal  Cities. — The  Republic 
has  about  3,000,000  inhabitants,  a  large  part  of  them 
gathered  in  the  cities  and  towns,  the  urban  population  be- 
ing unusually  large  for  a  country  doing  so  little  manufactur- 
ing. Santiago,  the  capital,  has  256,000  people;  Valparaiso, 
122,000;  Concepcion,  39,900;  Iquique,  33,000;  Talca, 
33,000;  Chilian,  28,000;  Serena,  15,000;  Antofagasta, 
i3j5ooj  Curico,  12,500.  There  are  many  smaller  cities 
with  from  5,000  to  10,000  people. 

2.  Races. — The  dominant  race  is  of  Spanish  origin  while 
the  greater  part  of  the  laboring  class  is  largely  of  Indian 
blood,  mingled  with  the  Spanish.    These  laborers,  ox  peoneSf 

122 


CHILE 

are  a  hardy,  industrious  race,  intensely  patriotic,  but  unfor- 
tunately addicted  to  intemperance.  The  seaport  towns  have 
a  goodly  number  ol  foreigners.  During  the  last  two  dec- 
ades the  government  has  made  considerable  effort  to  pro- 
mote immigration,  and  German,  French,  English  and  Scotch 
colonies  have  been  begun  in  the  far  south.  Some  of  these 
colonists  have  prospered ;  but  largely  for  lack  of  protection 
against  marauders,  who  steal  their  cattle  and  rob  them  of 
their  money,  many  of  them  seek  the  cities  for  protection. 

VIII.  Government. — i.  Its  Character. — Chile  is  nomi- 
nally a  republic,  but  it  might  be  more  accurately  designated 
an  oligarchy.  A  hundred  families  with  their  branches  hold 
nearly  all  the  responsible  positions  of  the  government.  It  is 
a  unitarian  system  rather  than  a  federation ;  as  the  twenty- 
three  provinces  into  which  the  country  is  divided,  are  not 
so  many  states  with  individual  legislatures. 

2.  Congress. — All  laws  are  made  by  congress,  which  is 
composed  of  a  senate  with  thirty-four  members,  half  elected 
every  third  year,  and  a  chamber  of  deputies  of  ninety-four 
members,  elected  once  in  three  years.  Both  houses  are 
elected  directly  by  the  people.  The  members  do  not  need 
to  be  residents  of  the  provinces  or  departments  from  which 
they  are  elected,  and  as  they  do  not  receive  salaries,  only 
those  who  live  in  or  near  Santiago,  or  are  men  of  wealth 
and  leisure,  can  afford  to  be  congressmen. 

3.  The  right  of  suffrage  is  limited  to  men  who  can  read 
and  write  and  who  have  either  property  or  a  regular  income 
from  their  labor.  The  number  of  electors  is  small.  The 
senators  and  deputies  to  be  elected  are  formed  into  groups 
and  a  system  of  cumulative  votes  is  used.  This  gives  to 
the  minority  a  representation.  The  ballot  is  a  secret  one 
similar  to  the  Australian  system,  though  the  votes  are  not 
of  the  "blanket"  form. 

123 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

4.  The  parliamentary  system  is  employed  in  congress. 
The  ministers  who  are  at  the  heads  of  the  various  depart- 
ments must  be  chosen  from  men  who  have  been  members 
of  congress  at  some  time,  and  who  at  the  time  of  their 
selection,  may  be  retaining  their  right  of  vote.  They  have 
a  voice  in  all  discussions  and  introduce  most  of  the  bills. 
They  must  be  chosen  to  represent  the  majority  in  congress, 
and  when  any  measure  of  the  government  is  defeated  a  new 
ministry  must  be  formed. 

5.  The  president,  who  is  elected  for  five  years  and  can- 
not succeed  himself,  but  may  be  reelected  after  an  interven- 
ing term,  has  for  advisers,  in  addition  to  his  ministers,  a 
Council  of  State  composed  of  eleven  members,  five  ap- 
pointed by  himself  and  six  by  congress.  All  laws  must  be 
approved  by  this  council  before  they  can  be  promulgated. 

6.  The  Judiciary  with  lower  courts,  courts  of  appeals 
and  supreme  court,  is  entirely  independent  of  the  legisla- 
tive and  executive  departments  except  that  the  judges  are 
appointed  by  the  president  with  the  consent  of  the  senate, 
and  under  certain  circumstances  can  be  dismissed  by  him. 
Congress  itself  is  the  interpreter  of  the  constitutionality  of 
its  own  laws,  while  the  courts  accept  the  laws  as  passed 
and  never  act  upon  their  constitutionality.  The  jury  sys- 
tem is  not  used,  and  nearly  all  pleading  is  done  by  means 
of  briefs.  The  laws  are  codified,  the  Napoleonic  code  be- 
ing the  basis  of  most  of  them. 

7.  The  provincial  ijitendants,  as  well  as  the  governors  of 
the  departments,  are  appointed  by  the  president,  and  the 
larger  cities  have  municipalities  elected  locally  with  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  autonomy. 

8.  Centralization. — The  government  is  one  of  the  most 
centralized  in  the  world,  as  all  appointments  of  judges,  army 
officers,  provincial  and  department  chiefs,  school-teachers, 

124 


CHILE 

postmasters,  telegraph  operators,  railroad  officials,  and  cus- 
toms officers,  have  their  appointment  from  the  capital. 
This  throws  all  governmental  patronage  into  the  hands  of 
the  party  in  power,  and  it  is  often  used  to  reward  party 
workers. 

9.  Most  of  the  telegraph  lines  and  railways  in  the  Re- 
public belong  to  the  government  and  are  fairly  well  man- 
aged, though  not  very  profitably.  Could  politics  be  kept 
out  of  them  they  would  be  more  efficient. 

10.  The  7iavy  of  the  Republic  is  the  most  powerful  of  all 
in  Southern  America,  having  several  ironclads,  monitors, 
first-class  cruisers  and  a  number  of  torpedo  boats  and  tor- 
pedo boat  destroyers,  as  well  as  transports  and  vessels 
for  coast  defense.  Valparaiso  and  Talcahuano  are  well 
fortified  ports.  The  standing  army  is  very  small  and  can- 
not be  encamped  nearer  to  the  capitol  than  fifteen  kilometers 
without  the  consent  of  congress. 

11.  Since  the  discovery  of  nitrate  and  the  enormous  in- 
crease in  the  revenue  of  the  general  government  from  duty 
charged  on  its  exportation,  the  civil  list  has  greatly  increased 
and  there  is  a  strong  tendency  on  the  part  of  young  men  to 
seek  government  employment  and  neglect  business  and 
financial  enterprises,  which  as  a  result  are  falling  rapidly 
into  the  hands  of  foreigners. 

IX.  Education. — i.  Schools  and  University, — The 
government  has  a  system  of  free  public  schools  y  beginning 
with  the  primary  grades.  Above  these  are  the  high  schools 
{liceos),  leading  to  the  National  University,  which  is  the 
only  institution  privileged  to  confer  degrees  or  titles.  Nor- 
mal schools  are  maintained  for  the  training  of  teachers,  the 
German  system  and  German  teachers  being  employed. 
The  University  offers  instruction  in  the  professional  courses 
only,  there  being  no  provision  for  what  is  understood  as  a 

"5 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

course  of  Liberal  Arts.  The  courses  in  law  and  medicine 
are  six  years  each ;  those  in  dentistry,  engineering  and  art 
are  shorter. 

2.  Several  special  schools  are  also  maintained  at  govern- 
ment expense,  as  the  Conservatory  of  Music,  the  Agricul- 
tural College,  industrial  schools  for  boys  and  for  girls, 
School  of  Art  and  Engraving,  and  School  of  Mining  and 
Engineering.  In  addition  to  the  schools  supported  by  the 
government,  there  are  many  private  and  mission  schools  of 
almost  every  grade,  as  well  as  convent  and  monastery 
schools  under  the  control  of  the  nuns  and  friars ;  yet  the 
percentage  of  illiteracy  must  be  high. 

X.  Societies  and  Institutes.— The  government  does 
much  to  foster  and  encourage  the  arts  and  professions  by 
means  of  subsidies  or  grants  to  various  societies,  as  the 
Engineers'  Institute,  the  Society  of  Agriculture  and  the 
Medical  Society,  and  maintains  a  fine  Astronomical  Observa- 
tory, Museum  of  Natural  History,  Antiquities  and  Botany, 
an  Art  Gallery  and  Botanical  Gardens. 

XI.  Eleemosynary  Institutions. — i.  Enumerated. — 
Excellent  hospitals  for  both  men  and  women,  with  wards 
for  the  poor,  as  well  as  rooms  for  those  who  wish  private 
accommodations,  are  supported  by  the  government.  They 
have  able  staffs  of  physicians  and  surgeons,  and  in  every 
important  town  offices  for  free  vaccination  are  kept  open  all 
the  year.  There  are  also  public  asylums  for  the  insane  and 
for  orphans  and  the  aged. 

2.  Effect  on  Private  Benevolence. — The  government  is 
largely  paternal  and  private  benevolence  is  not  encouraged 
to  any  great  extent.  Recourse  is  had  to  congress  and  to 
the  public  funds  for  the  founding  and  support  of  organiza- 
tions which  in  other  countries  are  due  to  private  initiative 
and  philanthropy. 

126 


CHILE 

XII.  The  Pearl  of  the  Andes. — i.  Santiago' s  Setting. 
— The  capital  of  Chile  has  as  fine  a  location  as  could  be 
chosen  for  a  city.  It  lies  in  the  interior  valley  between  the 
Coast  Range  and  the  lofty  Andes,  on  the  gentle  slope  of 
the  Cordilleras.  The  valley  stretches  away  to  the  westward 
and  to  the  south,  winding  between  the  curves  of  the  ranges 
and  the  spurs  that  break  off  to  the  eastward  and  to  the  west, 
giving  it  the  appearance  of  a  vast  amphitheatre.  In  sum- 
mer the  whole  Andes  range,  which  here  rises  to  the  height 
of  from  sixteen  to  twenty-three  thousand  feet,  wears  a  glit- 
tering mantle  of  perpetual  whiteness,  and  in  winter  all  the 
hills  and  mountains  completing  the  circle  are  also  crowned 
with  snow,  seeming  to  encircle  the  entire  valley.  Seven 
peaks,  lying  within  the  short  space  of  140  miles,  constitute 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  groups  of  mountains  to  be  found 
anywhere  in  the  world.  The  lowest  of  them  is  nearly  two 
thousand  feet  higher  than  the  highest  peak  in  the  United 
States,  and  the  loftiest  is  the  most  elevated  peak  in  the 
western  hemisphere. 

2.  Nearer  Views. — The  Mapocha,  a  rapid  mountain 
stream  comes  in  from  behind  a  range  of  hills  rising  to  the 
northward  and  making  a  sudden  turn  to  the  right,  flows 
westerly  through  the  city.  Cerro  Sa?ita  Lucia,  a  rocky 
basaltic  peak,  rises  abruptly  from  the  plain  a  few  squares 
from  the  central  plaza  and  well  within  the  city  limits.  It 
has  been  adorned  with  towers  and  battlements,  bridges  and 
winding  paths  and  planted  with  trees  and  flowers  until  it 
looks  like  a  great  medieval  castle.  The  beautiful  Alameda 
traverses  the  city  almost  parallel  to  the  river  and  is  orna- 
mented with  statues  and  monuments.  Water  courses,  bor- 
dered with  rows  of  elms  and  oaks,  acacias  and  poplars,  run 
at  the  sides  of  the  broad  central  promenade.  The  National 
University  and  many  of  the  finest  private  residences  front 

127 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

on  this  avenue.     Some  of  these  palaces  of  milUonaires  are 
magnificent. 

3.  Elevation  and  Water  Supply. — Santiago  has  a  mean 
elevation  of  1,800  feet  above  sea  level  and  is  connected 
with  Valparaiso,  from  which  port  it  is  distant  114  miles,  and 
with  the  south,  by  railways  equipped  almost  wholly  with 
American  rolling  stock.  Its  abundant  water  supply  is 
brought  twenty  miles  from  the  Maipo  river,  a  large  moun- 
tain stream  which  comes  down  from  the  snows  on  the  moun- 
tain ranges. 

4.  Santiago  is  not  only  the  political  capital  but  the  social 
centre  of  the  Republic  as  well.  It  is  the  home  of  nearly  all 
the  wealthy  landed  proprietors,  mine  operators,  capitalists 
and  bankers,  as  well  as  government  officials,  congressmen 
and  army  officers.  Not  to  have  a  home  in  Santiago  is  to  be 
without  recognition  in  the  aristocracy  and  high  social  circles 
of  the  country.  It  is  a  great  city  of  residences  with  little 
commerce  other  than  that  necessary  for  its  own  local  needs. 

5.  Its  History. — While  buildings,  even  central  ones,  are 
still  standing,  which  tell  of  the  antiquity  of  the  city,  its 
architecture  is  principally  modern,  a  close  imitation  of  the 
French.  When  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  landed  at  Plymouth 
Rock,  Santiago  was  already  nearly  eighty  years  old.  On 
the  1 2th  of  February,  15  41,  less  than  fifty  years  after  the 
discovery  of  America,  Pedro  Valdivia,  the  second  of  the 
conquistadores  to  make  his  way  from  Peru  to  Chile,  stand- 
ing on  Santa  Lucia  Hill,  selected  this  site  and  founded  the 
city.  His  intrepid  followers,  while  fighting  off  the  hostile 
Indians  and  living  on  the  wild  onions  and  roots  they  could 
gather,  built  the  first  adobe  houses  which  marked  the  future 
metropolis. 

XIII.  History  of  Chile. — i.  Diego  Almagro,  the  com- 
panion of  Francisco  Pizarro,  the  cruel  conqueror  of  the 

128 


CHILE 

Empire  of  the  Incas  and  the  murderer  of  Atahualpa, — the 
last  of  that  marvelous  dynasty  of  the  Children  of  the  Sun, 
— was  the  first  of  those  heroic  Iberian  adventurers  to  lead  a 
band  of  followers  along  the  rugged  slopes  of  the  Andes  and 
descend  into  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Aconcagua.  Not  find- 
ing the  abundance  of  gold  which  he  expected,  he  soon 
turned  his  face  northward  returning  by  the  desert. 

2.  Pedro  Valdivia  followed  soon  after  and  permanent 
settlements  were  made  at  Santiago,  Concepcion,  Serena  and 
Nueva  Imperial. 

3.  Colonists  a7id  the  Aratica7iia7is . — Chile  remained  a 
Spanish  colony  until  the  early  years  of  the  century.  Nearly 
every  foot  of  progress  from  the  Aconcagua  southward  was 
nobly  and  heroically  contested  by  the  native  sons  of  the 
soil.  The  sturdy  Araucanians,  who  were  the  aborigines  of 
the  country,  did  not  recede  before  the  march  of  Spanish 
conquest  except  after  centuries  of  fighting.  The  names  of 
Caupolican  and  Lautaro  deserve  a  place  with  the  heroes  of 
all  ages. 

4.  Freedom's  Foregieams. — The  flashes  of  the  guns  of 
the  minutemen  of  Concord  and  Lexington  which  set  the 
American  colonies  on  fire  with  unquenchable  zeal  for  po- 
litical independence,  lit  up  the  peaks  of  the  Andes  as  well, 
and  the  echoes  of  the  fusilade  at  Bunker  Hill  and  Saratoga, 
Valley  Forge  and  Yorktown  reverberated  among  the  moun- 
tain peaks,  and  along  the  rocky  valleys  of  this  far-off  south 
land.  The  social  and  political  upheavals  of  France  at  the 
close  of  the  last  century  also  had  a  powerful  influence  on 
the  Spanish  colonies  in  South  America. 

5.  Freedom  Won.— On  September  i8th,  1810,  the  patriot 
sons  of  Chile  formed  the  first  governing  body  and  took  up 
the  struggle  for  freedom  and  national  independence.  When 
in  181 7  their  almost  superhuman  efforts  and  heroic  sacrifices 

129 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

were  about  to  prove  futile,  San  Martin  of  the  Argentine, 
who  had  already  taught  the  Spanish  armies  to  fear  his  sword, 
came  over  the  Maipo  pass  with  a  band  of  brave  men,  many 
of  them  refugees  from  Chile,  and  fell  upon  the  Spanish 
forces  at  Chacabuco  and  again  at  Maipo  the  following  year. 
He  defeated  them  so  overwhelmingly  that  the  struggle  was 
virtually  at  an  end,  though  Spain  did  not  acknowledge  the 
independence  of  the  Republic  until  1846. 

The  names  of  O'Higgins,  Mackenna  and  Cochrane, 
prominent  men  in  the  annals  of  the  war  for  independence, 
bear  eloquent  testimony  to  the  aid  the  patriots  received  from 
Irish  and  Scotch  leaders. 

6.  But  the  building  of  the  nation,  the  framing  of  its  con- 
stitution and  the  organization  of  its  government  and  admin- 
istration, the  establishing  of  its  laws  and  the  development 
of  its  political  system,  are  due  to  native  statesmen  who  are 
worthy  to  rank  with  the  fathers  of  any  republic.  Guaran- 
tees of  personal  liberty,  security  of  life  and  property,  in- 
violability of  the  home,  are  fundamental  principles  secured 
to  the  people  by  the  constitution  and  the  laws. 

XIV.  Social  Life. — i.  Winter  Occupations. — Far  as 
the  country  is  separated  from  the  centres  of  intellectual  ac- 
tivity, it  is  only  natural  that  society  should  find  its  chief  life 
in  the  rounds  of  frivolous  enjoyments.  In  the  winter  season 
the  opera  holds  the  first  place.  The  municipality,  which 
owns  the  beautiful  theatre,  endeavors  to  secure  able  troupes 
for  each  season  and  the  boxes  are  sold  at  auction,  often 
bringing  very  high  prices.  Fancy  and  dress  balls  are  fre- 
quent. Among  the  political  leaders  banquets  are  of  almost 
daily  occurrence  during  the  sessions  of  congress.  The  men 
are  occupied  in  their  professions  or  in  politics,  and  the 
ladies  devote  no  small  amount  of  time  to  social  calls  and 
society  gossip.     Several   literary  societies,   social,  political 


CHILE 

clubs  and  professional  associations  claim  a  goodly  share  of 
the  time  of  the  young  men,  the  ladies  seldom  attending 
these.  Horse  races  which  draw  immense  crowds  of  the 
elite  are  held  on  Sunday  afternoons,  in  the  spring  and  early 
summer,  the  only  races  being  those  of  the  horse  and  rider 
at  full  gallop. 

2.  In  summer  the  courts  close,  congress  is  in  recess, 
the  president  and  his  cabinet  go  down  to  the  seaside  and 
transact  business  there,  and  the  families  retire  to  their 
country  estates,  or  to  the  coast  towns,  giving  the  city  a 
deserted  appearance. 

XV.  Literature  and  Art. — i.  Periodicals. — Daily 
papers,  edited  in  the  interests  of  one  or  another  of  the  po- 
litical parties  or  factions,  are  numerous.  Santiago  alone 
has  no  less  than  nine  of  them.  The  various  associations 
and  institutes  have  their  regular  publications  and  one  or  two 
more  purely  literary  periodicals  are  issued ;  but  these  last 
are  usually  short-lived,  seldom  doing  anything  more  than 
paying  the  mere  cost  of  publishing,  while  the  editorial  work 
must  all  be  done  gratis. 

2.  Every  year  a  few  volumes  of  poetry  or  fiction  make 
their  appearance,  but  the  circulation  is  exceedingly  limited. 
Works  of  a  more  serious  character,  such  as  histories  or 
technical  treatises,  can  only  be  issued  by  aid  of  government 
funds. 

3.  Art, — The  government  seeks  to  encourage  art  by 
maintaining  a  gallery,  in  which  are  found  many  of  the  best 
works  by  native  artists  as  well  as  some  rare  pictures  of  the 
old  masters.  Several  paintings  by  women  artists  hold  con- 
spicuous places,  while  some  productions  in  marble  are 
worthy  of  a  place  in  any  collection.  Some  of  the  private 
galleries  are  really  rivals  of  the  National  Gallery,  large  for- 
tunes being  invested  in  them.     The  public  plazas  and  ave- 

131 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

nues  are  adorned  with  statues  and  monuments,  mostly  the 
work  of  native  talent. 

XVI.  Politics. — I.  Spaniards  Lacking  in  Combination. 
— The  Spanish  race  has  wonderful  fondness  for  politics. 
Large  numbers  of  the  men  seem  to  find  their  chief,  if  not 
their  only  employment  in  working  for  party.  But  unfortu- 
nately the  Spanish  race  has  little  faculty  for  combination. 
This  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  continent  is  divided  up 
into  ten  republics,  instead  of  three  or  four,  as  the  natural 
division  of  the  territory  would  suggest.  And  in  these  re- 
publics parties  are  numerous. 

2.  The  Clerical  Party. — In  Chile  about  the  only  ques- 
tion that  ever  enters  into  the  issues  of  the  campaign,  is  that 
of  the  relation  of  Church  and  State.  The  conservative,  or 
clerical  party,  endeavors  to  make  the  state  wholly  subser- 
vient to  the  interests  of  the  Church.  Ever  increased  ap- 
propriations of  public  funds  for  the  benefit  of  the  priest- 
hood, erection  of  churches  and  convents,  and  support  of 
church  schools  and  institutions,  are  sought.  They  hold 
that  the  Pope  should  be  supreme  in  temporal  matters  and 
seek  to  make  the  hierarchy  of  the  National  Church,  which 
represents  the  Holy  See,  supreme  in  national  affairs. 

3.  The  liberal  party ^  divided  into  many  factions,  seeks 
in  varying  degrees  to  limit  and  curb  the  grasping,  domineer- 
ing spirit  of  the  clergy.  Frequently  the  parties  gather 
around  some  able  leader  and  are  personal  in  character 
rather  than  the  advocates  of  any  very  pronounced  doctrine 
of  national  policy. 

4.  Spanish  Theory  of  Government. — All  through  Spanish 
America  the  prevailing  idea  of  the  purpose  of  government 
is  that  it  is  instituted  and  exists  chiefly  for  the  benefit  and 
welfare  of  those  who  govern.  The  conception  of  a  gov- 
ernment of  the  people,  by  the  people  and  for  the  people  is 

133 


CHILE 

unknown.  It  seems  almost  impossible  to  mold  the  medieval 
idea  of  the  state  into  the  form  of  a  republic ;  yet  this  has 
been  the  operation  attempted  in  Spanish  America.  To  this 
conception  of  the  office  of  government  is  largely  due  the 
innumerable  revolutions  which  work  such  disaster  to  pros- 
perity and  progress. 

5.  Chile,  of  all  the  South  American  nations,  is  the  one 
republic  which  has  been  singularly  free  from  political 
upheavals.  The  revolutions  of  185 1,  1857  and  1891  are 
the  only  ones  in  which  armies  have  been  used  to  overthrow 
the  constituted  authority  of  the  nation. 

6.  Evils  Arisifig  fro7n  the  Clerical  Party, — No  greater 
calamity  can  overtake  a  republic  than  for  the  clerical  party 
to  obtain  control  of  the  government.  Education  is  strangled ; 
policies  of  public  advancement  and  social  improvement 
are  dwarfed  ;  and  revenues  are  diverted  from  the  fostering 
of  institutions  and  enterprises  for  the  progress  of  the  country 
and  the  improvement  of  the  people,  to  the  support  of  idle 
and  vicious  friars  and  societies  of  nuns  devoted  to  church 
work. 

XVII.  Religion  and  Morals. — i.  Early  Character  of 
South  American  Religion. — The  religion  which  was  intro- 
duced into  the  western  South  American  colonies  was  that 
of  medieval  Spain,  which  had  grown  up  beside  the  blood- 
thirsty and  cruel  religion  of  the  Moors  and  absorbed  much 
of  its  spirit  and  character, — the  religion  of  the  worst  in- 
quisition that  the  world  ever  saw,  of  the  stake  and  the 
fagot,  the  dungeon  and  the  rack.  The  trio  that  planned 
the  conquest  of  that  coast  was  composed  of  the  miser,  the 
priest  and  the  soldier,  who  were  actuated  by  a  greed  for 
gold,  for  priestly  power  and  for  blood.  Hand  in  hand  they 
went  forth  to  rob,  to  convert  and  to  conquer.  If  the  poor, 
defenceless  aborigines  gave  up  their  treasures  and  submitted 

133 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

to  baptism,  they  were  only  reduced  to  vassals  and  slaves ; 
but  woe  to  those  who  refused  to  do  either — the  soldier  made 
short  work  of  them.  Treachery,  deceit  and  cruelty 
wrought  their  dreadful  work  and  multitudes  were  **  con- 
verted." A  brother  of  Ignacio  Loyola,  founder  of  the 
Jesuits,  was  viceroy  over  these  territories  of  the  crown  and 
exhibited  much  of  the  zeal  for  the  Church  that  the  en- 
thusiastic San  Ignacio  did. 

2.  Leading  Tenets. — It  could  hardly  be  expected  that  a 
religion  with  such  early  home  training  and  such  methods  of 
propagandism  would  be  characterized  by  piety,  or  show  any 
great  spirituality.  Only  accept  the  two  tenets  that  the  end 
justifies  the  means  and  that  baptism  insures  eternal  salva- 
tion, although  purgatorial  fires  may  be  necessary  first,  and 
there  is  need  of  nothing  more  to  destroy  spirituality  and 
morality  as  well.  Add  to  these  the  belief  that  the  Church 
should  be  the  supreme  temporal  power  in  the  world  and 
that  all  those  who  oppose  the  Church  are  regarded  as 
enemies  to  be  dealt  with  in  the  most  summary  manner. 

3.  Romanism' s  Fruitage. — After  more  than  three  and  a 
half  centuries  of  almost  undisputed  control  of  the  spiritual 
interests  of  the  people,  Romanism  has  brought  forth  the 
fruitage  of  her  errors,  and  a  fearful  harvest  it  yields. 

(i)  To  the  Protestant  the  idea  of  religion  without  morals 
is  inconceivable ;  but  South  American  Romanism  divorces 
morals  and  religion.  It  is  quite  possible  to  break  every 
command  of  the  Decalogue  and  yet  be  a  devoted,  faithful 
Romanist.  If  Romanism,  in  the  fields  where  she  has  been 
allowed  to  work  out  the  full  measure  of  her  influence  un- 
checked and  uninfluenced  by  Protestantism,  be  tested  in  any 
or  all  those  great  essential  virtues  which  lie  at  the  very 
foundation  of  the  holy  religion  of  Jesus,  she  will  be  found 
sadly  wanting. 

134 


CHILE 

(2)  Other  Fruits. — Take  away  the  Word  of  God,  mak- 
ing the  Bible  a  baleful  book,  and  substituting  tradition,  and 
superstition  is  sure  to  flourish.  Remove  heaven  so  far  away 
that  none  may  ever  reach  its  joys  except  after  ages  of  purga- 
torial fires  or  vast  sums  paid  for  masses  to  shorten  the  pains, 
and  the  greatest  source  of  wealth  a  Church  ever  had  is 
ready  at  hand.  Make  the  Father  in  Heaven  so  indifferent 
to  the  needs  of  His  creatures  here  below  that  He  will  not 
listen  to  their  prayers  except  as  presented  by  some  saint, 
and  the  consciousness  of  the  divine  indwelling  in  the  soul 
is  impossible.  Make  Jesus  a  perpetual  child,  subject  and 
obedient  to  His  mother's  will  as  much  as  when  He  lived 
under  the  parental  roof  at  Nazareth,  and  Mariolatry  becomes 
lower  than  Chinese  ancestral  worship.  Make  the  saying  of 
Pater  Nosters  and  Ave  Marias  a  substitute  for  righteous- 
ness, and  an  indulgence  for  sins  past  or  future,  and  who 
needs  to  think  seriously  of  his  moral  conduct?  Make 
truth  a  mere  matter  of  convenience  and  it  will  soon  be  un- 
distinguishable  from  a  lie. 

(3)  Romanism  can  only  flourish  in  the  soil  of  ignorance. 
Its  silly  superstitions  are  revolting  to  a  mind  which  can  rea- 
son. Enlightenment  is  its  seal  of  death ;  hence  education 
in  any  true  sense  is  never  fostered  by  the  Papacy.  There 
are  countries  in  South  America  where  not  over  five  out  of  a 
hundred  of  the  inhabitants  can  read  and  write,  and  in  those 
in  which  the  percentage  of  illiteracy  is  lower,  the  State,  and 
not  the  Church,  has  control  of  the  schools. 

(4)  Formerly  in  Chile  the  registration  of  births  and 
deaths  and  celebration  of  marriages  was  entirely  in  the 
hands  of  the  clergy.  The  marriage-fees  were  so  high  that 
many  of  the  poor  could  never  get  together  money  enough 
to  pay  them.  There  grew  up  through  the  centuries,  among 
the  lower  classes,  a  feeling  of  indifference  to  the  sacredness 

»35 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

of  the  marriage  tie  and  the  number  of  children  born  out  of 
wedlock  was  enormously  large,  as  it  is  still  in  some  of  the 
South  and  Central  American  republics.  In  1884  the  refor7n 
laws  were  enacted  and  a  system  of  free  civil  registration 
and  marriage  and  the  complete  secularization  of  the  ceme- 
teries were  established.  Since  then  the  percentage  of 
illegitimate  births  has  gradually  declined ;  but  in  the  latest 
statistics  pubHshed  by  the  government,  the  average  for  the 
country  is  given  as  thirty-three  per  cent.,  and  the  highest  in 
any  department  a  little  over  sixty-six  per  cent.  This  is  a 
fearful  showing  for  the  morals  of  a  country ;  yet  it  is  prob- 
ably the  best  in  all  Catholic  America,  Mexico  alone  excepted. 

4.  The  hierarchy  of  the  State  Church  consists  of  an 
archbishop,  three  bishops  and  a  capitular  vicar.  Nearly 
every  order  of  nuns  and  friars  is  represented  in  the  numer- 
ous convents  and  monasteries.  The  wealth  of  these  re- 
ligious communities  is  enormous.  Besides  the  properties 
used  for  religious  purposes,  many  of  the  most  valuable 
business  blocks  and  residences  belong  to  the  orders  and 
some  of  the  great  estates  are  also  in  their  possession.  The 
state  makes  appropriations  from  the  public  funds  for  the 
support  of  the  parish  clergy,  and  of  church  schools  and 
for  the  erection  of  churches. 

XVIII.  Missionary  Work. — i.  The  Two  Leading  So- 
cieties.— The  missionary  societies  of  the  American  Presby- 
terian Church  (North),  and  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  (North),  are  the  only  societies  doing  organized  mis- 
sion work  among  the  natives. 

(i)  The  Presbyterians  have  central  stations  at  Toco- 
pilla,  Copiapo,  Valparaiso,  Santiago,  Talca,  Chilian  and 
Concepcion,  with  a  number  of  outlying  stations,  and  a  large 
boarding-school  at  Santiago  and  day-schools  at  several  other 
points. 

136 


CHILE 

(2)  The  Methodists  have  central  mission  stations  at 
Arica,  Iquique,  Antofagasta,  Coquimbo,  Serena,  Valparaiso, 
Santiago,  San  Fernando,  Concepcion,  Los  Anjeles,  Angol, 
Victoria,  Temuco  and  Nueva  Imperial,  with  numerous  out- 
lying points  where  services  are  held  regularly.  They  have 
a  large  boarding-school  for  both  boys  and  girls  at  Iquique, 
important  colleges  for  young  ladies  at  Santiago  and  Con- 
cepcion, and  a  large  boarding-school  for  boys  at  the  latter 
place,  besides  a  school  for  both  boys  and  girls  at  Temuco. 
In  addition,  they  have  a  number  of  day-schools  in  connec- 
tion with  their  churches. 

(3)  Both  missions  publish  religious  periodicals  and  num- 
erous tracts,  and  a  large  amount  of  other  religious  literature. 
The  Methodists  have  an  extensive  printing  plant  at  the  cap- 
ital. The  Presbyterian  mission  employs  about  fifteen 
American  missionaries  and  as  many  native  helpers  j  and 
the  Methodist  mission  has  over  forty  American  missionaries 
and  some  twenty-five  native  helpers. 

(4)  The  Methodist  mission,  which  was  begun  in  1878, 
has  been  conducted  on  the  plan  of  self-support  from  the 
beginning,  the  missionaries  getting  their  entire  support  on 
the  field,  and  it  is  one  of  the  most  prosperous  missions  on 
the  continent.  Both  the  Presbyterian  and  Methodist  mis- 
sions have  had  a  large  measure  of  success.  Full  protection 
is  given  by  the  laws  to  non-Catholic  religious  work,  and  a 
considerable  part  of  the  people  are  desirous  of  a  purer  re- 
ligion. 

2.  Other  Societies. — A  few  missionaries  sent  out  by  the 
Christian  and  Missionary  Alliance  are  still  at  work,  but 
independently.  A  Swiss  society  has  had  missionaries 
among  the  colonies  who  also  did  work  among  the  native 
people.  The  South  American  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Church  of  England  has  sent  out  a  number  of  chaplains  to 

137 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

the  British  colonies  at  the  most  important  points  on  the 
coast,  as  has  a  German  society  to  the  larger  German 
colonies.  The  local  Valparaiso  Bible  Society ^  aided  by  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  and  the  American  Bible 
Society,  is  doing  much  to  circulate  the  Scriptures  in  Spanish. 
Much  Protestant  religious  literature  is  also  going  into  circu- 
lation year  by  year. 

3.  Through  the  influence  of  the  Protestant  missionaries 
and  Protestant  residents  temperance  work  has  been  started 
in  many  places,  and  a  number  of  Chilean  gentlemen  of  in- 
fluence and  position,  who  have  no  special  interest  in  religion, 
have  become  identified  with  the  movement  and  are  doing 
much  to  counteract  the  evils  of  intemperance. 

4.  Work  for  the  Araucanians. — (i)  The  descendants  of 
the  aboriginal  Indian  races ^  to  the  number  of  about  fifty 
thousand,  still  occupy  a  considerable  part  of  the  southern 
part  of  Chile,  reaching  from  the  Cautin  river  to  Lake 
Llanquihue.  They  dwell  in  huts  thatched  with  long  grass 
and  keep  up  their  ancient  customs  and  dress.  There  is 
little  game  they  can  obtain.  They  cultivate  wheat  and 
potatoes,  and  many  of  them  have  large  herds  of  cattle  and 
sheep.  The  Catholic  missionaries  have  had  little  success  in 
converting  them. 

(2)  The  only  Protestant  mission  work  that  has  been 
done  among  them  has  been  that  of  the  missionaries  of  the 
South  American  Missionary  Society.  Two  stations,  at 
Cholchol  and  Quepe,  are  now  occupied  by  its  missionaries. 
They  have  schools,  medical  work  and  preaching  services. 
One  of  their  missionaries  has  recently  translated  the  book  of 
John  into  the  Araucanian.  This  will  be  the  first  part  of  the 
Bible  to  be  published  in  that  language. 

Canada's  part  in  this  enterprise  should  be  noted,  as  the 
Canadian  Church  Missionary  Association  has  furnished  the 

138 


CHILE 

society  some  of  their  best  workers,  notably  Mr.  Sadleir. 
The  striking  feature  of  the  Quepe  station,  where  he  is 
located,  is  the  industrial  school.  Though  opened  in  1898, 
it  already  has  outgrown  its  accommodations,  thus  proving 
that  Indians  desire  to  learn  farming,  carpentering,  etc.  Mr. 
Sadleir's  translational  work  is,  however,  even  more  impor- 
tant from  the  strictly  missionary  point  of  view.  Experiments 
already  made  prove  that  work  for  the  aborigines  is  most 
needful  and  rewarding. 


«39 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  INCAS 


VII 

THE  LAND  OF  THE  INCAS 
By  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Wood,  LL.  D. 

Lima,  Peru 
For  Thirty-one  years  a  Missionary  in  South  America. 

1.  A  Bit  of  Inca  History.*— i.  Its  Extent— BdoxQ 

Columbus  discovered  the  New  World  there  flourished  in 
South  America  a  great  empire, — embracing  what  is  to-day 
Ecuador,  Peru,  Bolivia,  Chile  and  part  of  Colombia  and 
Argentina, — the  Empire  of  the  Incas.  Peru  was  the  centre, 
the  chief  city  being  Cuzco,  which  is  said  to  have  had  a 
population  of  over  two  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  when 
the  sixteenth  century  dawned. 

2.  The  empire  had  two  capitals,  Cuzco  and  Quito,  which 
though  hundreds  of  miles  apart,  were  connected  by  wonder- 
ful roads  running  through  the  high  mountain  region  and 
only  equalled  by  the  famous  Roman  highways. 

3.  The  court  of  the  Incas  rivaled  that  of  Rome,  Jerusalem, 
or  any  of  the  old  Oriental  countries,  in  riches  and  show,  the 
palaces  being  decorated  with  a  great  profusion  of  gold, 
silver,  fine  cloth  and  precious  stones. 

4.  The  early  history  of  the  empire  is  shrouded  in  mystery; 
but  there  is  little  doubt  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh 
century  the  country  was  inhabited  by  various  tribes,  scat- 

*  This  first  section  has  been  furnished  by  Miss  Elsie  Wood,  for  nine 
years  a  missionary  in  Lima,  Peru. 

143 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

tered  over  the  territory,  having  different  customs,  religions 
and  government  and  speaking  different  languages. 

The  Inca  and  Aymara  were  the  two  tribes  which  eventu- 
ally combined  to  form  the  great  nation  which  spread  the 
rule  of  the  Inca  sovereigns  over  a  territory  extending  for 
nearly  fifty  degrees  along  the  western  coast,  and  across  the 
high  table-lands,  the  rich  valleys,  and  plains  reaching  east- 
ward from  the  Andes.  These  two  peoples  resemble  each 
other  in  essential  points.  Both  Inca  and  Aymara  Indians 
are  admirable  pedestrians  and  are  possessed  of  extraordinary 
endurance.  The  bulk  of  the  population  to-day  in  Ecuador, 
Peru  and  Bolivia,  is  composed  of  the  aboriginal  Indians, — 
the  natives  who,  when  America  was  discovered,  had  been 
there  from  time  immemorial. 

The  chief  tribe  was  the  Inca  race  of  conquerors,  whose 
chiefs,  while  they  taught  the  people  peaceful  occupations  and 
arts  and  strove  to  subjugate  the  tribes  around  them  by  offer- 
ing them  bribes  and  presents,  yet  were  above  everything  a 
warlike  race  of  conquerors. 

5.  Inca  Religion. — They  believed  in  a  Supreme  Being,  the 
Creator  of  the  Universe,  whom  they  worshiped  under  the 
names  of  Pachacamac  and  Huiracocha ;  they  had  some 
ideas  concerning  the  creation  and  the  universal  flood,  and 
believed  in  the  future  life,  in  the  final  resurrection  and  in  an 
evil  spirit,  man's  enemy,  called  Supay.  They  worshiped 
the  sun,  the  moon,  the  earth,  the  sea,  the  mountains,  ani- 
mals, plants  and  stones.  The  rainbow  was  the  device  upon 
the  Imperial  standard.  Pachacamac — the  creator  of  the 
world — was  worshiped  on  the  coast,  and  Huiracocha — the 
beginning  of  all  good — in  the  mountains.  To  these  gods 
they  dedicated  magnificent  temples,  ruins  of  which  may  be 
seen  to-day  in  many  places.  One  of  the  largest  of  these 
ruins  is  the  temple  of  Pachacamac  near  Lima. 

144 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  INCAS 

The  Sun  was  the  chief  divinity,  the  light  of  the  world, 
soul  of  the  empire  and  father  of  the  first  ruler,  Manco- 
Capac.  Each  town  and  family  had  special  gods  or  penates, 
made  of  gold,  silver  or  stone.  Manco-Capac  built  an  image 
of  the  sun,  representing  a  human  face  engraved  upon  an 
enormous  plate  of  gold,  surrounded  with  precious  stones. 
His  successors  considered  it  their  duty  to  erect  temples  of  the 
sun  in  all  the  conquered  provinces. 

6.  The  First  Inca  and  His  Successors. — According  to 
the  fables,  Manco-Capac  was  the  first  Inca,  said  to  have 
been  sent  with  his  wife  from  the  sun  with  a  bar  of  gold  with 
which  he  was  to  strike  the  earth,  and  then  build  his  capital 
upon  the  spot  where  the  bar  should  sink  into  its  bosom.  The 
city  which  he  built  was  the  present  Cuzco,  believed  to  have 
been  founded  in  the  eleventh  century.  Each  Inca  is  sup- 
posed to  have  enlarged  the  capital  and  extended  the  domin- 
ion. Lloque  Yupanqui  caused  beautiful  temples  and  pal- 
aces to  be  erected.  Maita-Capac  built  a  hanging  bridge 
over  the  Apurimac.  Pachacutec  built  numerous  aqueducts. 
Tupac  Yupanqui  erected  a  stupendous  fortress  in  Cuzco. 
The  rulers  were  considered  as  gods.  When  Huaina  Capac 
died,  more  than  a  thousand  people  were  sacrificed  to  serve 
him  in  the  other  life.  His  heart  was  deposited  in  Quito, 
and  his  body  embalmed  and  carried  to  Cuzco,  where  it  was 
buried  in  the  Temple  of  the  Sun. 

7.  Inca  Civilization. — The  history  of  the  empire  was 
kept  on  knotted  strings  of  different  colors  and  lengths,  called 
Quipos.  They  cultivated  many  of  the  arts  and  had  some 
knowledge  of  astronomy.  They  understood  mining  and  the 
working  of  metals,  excelled  as  masons,  weavers,  dyers,  pot- 
ters, and  were  good  farmers.  Knives  and  agricultural  im- 
plements in  bronze,  lances  or  javelins  and  war  clubs  in  metal, 
and  pottery  of  many  forms  and  shapes  have  been  found 

145 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

in  the  old  mounds  and  graves.  All  the  conquered  tribes 
were  compelled  to  learn  the  language  of  the  ruler,  the 
Quechua. 

8.  Three  centuries  of  oppression  have  made  the  Inca 
Indian  a  sadder  and  less  enterprising  being  and  have  de- 
teriorated his  character ;  but  with  the  light  of  the  gospel, 
what  will  hinder  him  from  rising  far  above  his  former  place  ? 
"It  is  not  possible  now  to  obtain  an  approximate  estimate 
of  the  population  of  the  empire  before  the  Spanish  conquest. 
We  are  told  by  contemporary  writers  that  it  was  very  dense, 
and  their  statement  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  in  many 
now  uninhabited  parts  there  are  remains  of  cultivation  in 
terraces  rising  up  the  sides  of  the  mountains — sometimes 
thirty  and  forty."  As  it  does  not  rain  on  the  coast,  these 
terraces  along  the  western  slopes  of  the  Andes  were  all  wa- 
tered by  irrigation.  ''Dams  were  constructed  at  different 
elevations  in  the  streams  for  drawing  off  the  water,  with 
channels  to  carry  it  along  the  higher  slopes  of  the  valleys. 
Vast  reservoirs  were  built  for  the  storage  of  water.  One  of 
these,  in  the  valley  of  the  Nepeiia,  is  1,300  yards  long  by 
900  broad,  and  is  formed  by  a  massive  dam  of  stone,  eighty 
feet  thick  at  the  base,  which  is  carried  across  a  gorge  be- 
tween two  rocky  hills.  It  was  supplied  by  two  canals,  and 
brought  from  a  distance  of  fourteen  miles  up  the  valley." 

It  is  to  descendants  of  such  heroes  that  Protestant  mis- 
sions will  one  day  minister.  At  present,  however,  the  work 
is  mainly  directed  toward  their  Spanish  conquerors.  And 
what  is  the  character  of  that  work  ? 

II.  The  Peculiar  Difficulties. — The  darkest  part  of  the 
American  hemisphere  is  found  in  the  republics  of  Bolivia, 
Peru  and  Ecuador, — the  old  empire  of  the  Incas.  Its  dis- 
tinguishing features  are  the  following,  which  are  more  fully 
developed  in  the  general  treatment  of  Chapter  X. : 

146 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  INCAS 

1.  Roman  Catholic  priestcraft  is  there  more  dominant 
than  in  any  other  part  of  America. 

2.  The  sw  order  aft  characteristic  of  South  America  has 
there  made  worse  havoc  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  con- 
tinent. 

3.  The  demoralization,  inseparable  from  these  evils,  is 
there  more  profound  and  more  hopeless  than  anywhere  else. 

4.  Incaism. — Underlying  this  demoralization  is  found 
another,  peculiar  to  that  territory,  derived  from  the  religion 
of  the  Incas.  More  than  half  of  the  population  is  of  pure 
aboriginal  blood  and  retains  the  superstitions  of  the  aborigi- 
nal sun-worship,  after  three  and  a  half  centuries  of  Roman 
Catholic  domination. 

5.  Fre-Inca?i  Idolatry. — Underlying  all  is  a  still  older  pa- 
ganism, which  the  Incas  tried  to  suppress  in  all  the  tribes 
they  conquered,  and  succeeded  but  partially.  Romanism 
has  been  still  less  successful.  This  ancient  idolatry  is  still 
found  among  the  savages  of  the  wildernesses.  The  change 
from  sun-worship  to  saint-worship  was  a  facile  relapse  to 
idolatry  for  the  masses  of  the  Inca  Empire.  Under  the 
change,  parts  of  the  population  relapsed  into  savagery. 

Thus  three  strata  of  perverted  ethics  are  found  to-day 
throughout  the  Inca  lands,  namely,  those  of  Jesuitism,  In- 
caism, and  pre-Incan  idolatry. 

6.  Depopulation. — Under  the  Incas  the  country  was 
densely  inhabited.  The  Spaniards  introduced  a  system  of 
tyranny  that  resulted  in  gradual  extermination.  The  repub- 
lics have  improved  on  the  viceroyalty  in  that  regard,  but 
have  suffered  far  worse  from  waste  of  blood  and  treasure 
by  wars ;  so  that  the  territory  has  scarcely  begun  to  recover 
from  the  awful  losses  of  the  past.  Thousands  of  square 
miles,  once  under  tillage  and  teeming  with  inhabitants,  are 
now  desert,  or  wilderness.     Multitudes  of  ruined  towns  are 

147 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

scattered  through  highlands  and  lowlands,  A  peculiar  sort 
of  demoralization  has  grown  out  of  the  discouragement  bred 
into  the  people  for  ages  by  this  state  of  things. 

7.  Scant  l77imigration. — The  European  immigration  to 
all  parts  of  South  America  is  at  a  minimum  in  those  three 
republics,  owing  to  the  moral  drawbacks,  not  to  physical 
conditions  or  position. 

8.  Legal  Restrictions. — The  constitutions  and  laws  have 
put  more  restrictions  on  religious  liberty  in  those  countries 
than  anywhere  else  in  all  America.  The  Inquisition  was  not 
finally  aboHshed  till  182 1.  As  late  as  1836  the  penalty  was 
death  for  holding  any  worship  other  than  the  Roman  Cath- 
ohc  in  Bolivia  and  Peru.  As  late  as  1896  the  constitution 
of  Ecuador  excluded  all  other  worship.  To  this  day  in  the 
three  republics  Protestants  are  subject  to  exceptional  legal 
privations. 

9.  Schoolcraft. — The  oldest  university  in  all  America  is 
that  of  Lima,  Peru,  a  queen  mother  among  the  family  of 
universities  existing  in  those  countries.  It  was  making 
bachelors  and  doctors  up  to  the  European  standards  of  their 
times,  before  the  first  colonists  landed  in  Virginia  or  Massa- 
chusetts. It  stood  in  one  corner  of  the  Plaza  of  the  Inqui- 
sition, so  called  from  the  presence  of  the  headquarters  of 
the  **  Holy  Office"  for  all  South  America.  The  educa- 
tional power  centered  there  for  centuries  has  been  far  reach- 
ing and  baneful.  The  republicans  of  Peru  have  taken  the 
Inquisition  office  for  their  Senate  chamber  and  the  chief 
university  building  for  their  House  of  Deputies,  trying  in 
vain  to  change  the  name  Plaza  of  the  Inquisition,  and 
equally  in  vain  to  modernize  the  medieval  scholasticism  that 
helps  perpetuate  the  tendencies  of  the  Inquisition  in  the  edu- 
cational, judicial,  administrative,  social  and  domestic  sys- 
tems of  those  countries.     This  drawback  characterizes  the 

14S 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  INCAS 

Inca  lands  to  a  degree  not  found  elsewhere  in  all  that  conti- 
nent. 

lo.  Scant  Evangelization. — While  gospel  work  was  start- 
ing and  developing  in  other  parts  of  South  America,  the 
agencies  backing  it  regarded  those  three  republics  as  a  moral 
wilderness,  impenetrable  and  untenable.  To  this  day  the 
work  of  evangelizing  the  masses  has  been  taken  up  by  only 
one  of  the  great  Protestant  denominations, — the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church, — and  it  has  but  one  Presiding  Elder  for 
the  three  republics,  and  possesses  no  real  estate.  The  An- 
glicans and  the  Lutherans  have  work  among  foreigners  in 
English  and  German,  but  do  nothing  for  the  natives.  Other 
workers,  representing  smaller  denominations  or  no  denomi- 
nation, are  making  a  start  in  the  language  of  the  people,  but 
are  without  real  estate  or  vigorous  backing.  Thus  the  most 
neglected  part  of  *'  The  Neglected  Continent  "  is  the  Land 
of  the  Incas. 

III.  Successful  Beginnings. — Any  results  whatever,  in 
such  a  field,  would  be  a  matter  of  rejoicing.  A  good  start 
on  winning  lines  should  be  hailed  with  hallelujahs.  The 
following  statements  partially  indicate  what  has  been  accom- 
plished. 

I .  The  Impenetrable  Regions  have  All  been  Penetrated. 
— A  colporteur  in  Argentina,  named  Jose  Mongiardino, 
after  good  success  in  the  northern  provinces  of  that  republic, 
could  not  rest  when  they  told  him  that  he  must  not  cross 
the  frontier  into  Bolivia.  At  last  he  did  cross  it  with  a  small 
quantity  of  books,  penetrating  as  far  as  the  then  capital, 
Sucre,  where  the  stock  was  sold  out  quickly,  and  he  started 
back  to  Argentina  for  more.  But  a  high  ecclesiastical  func- 
tionary, the  vicario  foraneo  of  Cotagaita — one  of  the  cities 
that  he  canvassed — had  declared  that  Mongiardino  would 
not  get  out  of  Bolivia  alive.     And  so  it  proved.     In  a 

149 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

lonely  place  on  the  road  he  was  beset  by  two  emissaries  of 
the  priesthood  and  murdered.  The  body  was  taken  back 
to  Cotagaita  for  burial  by  the  civil  authorities.  The  ec- 
clesiastical authorities  refused  it  admission  to  the  cemetery. 
It  was  buried  outside  the  wall,  between  the  graves  of  a 
murderer  and  a  suicide. 

Thus  the  Andine  highlands  remained  impenetrable.  But 
they  had  now  been  baptized  in  the  blood  of  a  martyr. 
Heroes  were  not  lacking  to  follow  in  his  footsteps,  though 
the  difficulties  seemed  insurmountable.  One  reached  the 
frontier  and  was  providentially  turned  back.  Two  others 
reached  Sucre  by  a  rapid  rush,  and  there  turned  back. 

At  last,  however,  a  band  of  three  from  the  east  coast 
pushed  a  steady  canvass  clear  through  Bolivia  and  on 
through  Peru,  returning  to  Montevideo  by  sea  to  report  that 
the  Land  of  the  Incas  was  penetrable.  They  were  assured 
at  every  stage  of  their  progress  that  they  would  lose  their 
lives,  if  they  proceeded  any  further.  These  warnings  came 
from  persons  who  sympathized  with  them,  from  civil 
authorities  who  lamented  inability  to  protect  them  and  from 
a  priest  who  told  them  that  if  they  did  not  turn  back  it 
would  happen  to  them  as  to  Mongiardino.  They  visited 
Mongiardino's  grave,  uncovered  their  heads  and  consecrated 
their  lives  anew  to  the  service  in  which  he  fell.  One  of 
these  was  Andrew  M.  Milne,  the  veteran  agent  of  the 
American  Bible  Society,  who  deserves  to  be  called  the 
Livingstone  of  South  America.  Another  was  Francisco 
Penzotti,  a  humble  Italian  carpenter,  converted  in  Monte- 
video and  developed  into  a  colporteur,  a  preacher,  an 
apostle  and  a  hero. 

That  expedition  took  place  in  1883.  The  next  year  an- 
other was  made  with  still  larger  success  on  the  same  ground 
by  Penzotti    and    a   colporteur.     In    1885-6    Milne    and 

150 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  INCAS 

Penzotti  circumnavigated  the  continent  with  Bibles,  giving 
much  attention  to  Peru,  though  rejected  from  Ecuador.  In 
the  later  eighties,  Bibles  were  repeatedly  sold  in  Ecuador, 
though  in  small  quantities,  and  religious  services  were  held 
and  books  sold  in  the  early  nineties.  Finally  the  great 
opening  in  that  republic  came  with  change  of  the  constitu- 
tion in  1896-7, — and  the  Land  of  the  Incas  was  every- 
where penetrable. 

2.  The  Untenable  Strategic  Points  have  been  Occupied 
and  Held. — (i)  Peru. — The  most  important  centre  of  in- 
fluence in  all  the  Andine  countries  is  the  city  of  Lima,  for 
centuries  the  seat  of  Spanish  dominion  over  all  those  regions. 
Close  to  it  is  its  seaport,  Callao,  practically  a  part  of  it. 
These  cities  were  entered  by  Protestantism  many  years  ago, 
by  the  organization  of  a  union  church  among  the  English- 
speaking  residents  there.  A  chapel  and  schoolhouse  were 
erected,  and  are  there  to  this  day ;  though  they  have  long 
been  without  a  pastor  or  regular  church  services.  A  similar 
organization,  started  subsequently  in  Lima,  has  a  rector  of 
the  Church  of  England  ;  but  it  avowedly  holds  to  total 
abstinence  from  evangelizing  the  masses  as  essential  to  its 
existence  under  the  influences  dominant  in  Peru.  Thus  has 
that  important  centre  been  untenable  for  direct  evangeliza- 
tion, even  with  a  considerable  force  of  resident  Protestants 
on  the  ground.  Various  other  attempts  to  gain  a  foothold 
there  have  been  made  in  more  recent  years  by  able,  heroic 
and  faithful  men  and  women ;  but  one  after  another  all  have 
failed.  Other  points  were  tried  and  likewise  failed,  and  as 
late  as  1888  there  was  not  a  single  aggressive  evangelical 
worker  in  all  Peru,  Bolivia  and  Ecuador. 

But  those  failures  developed  the  true  lines  of  success,  and 
now  the  city  of  Lima  is  the  headquarters  for  a  gospel  work 
which  has  successful  lines  extending  over  all  the  Land  of  the 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Incas,  and  has  sent  its  pioneers  northward  over  the  whole 
of  Central  America  to  the  Mexican  frontiers.  First  a  native 
congregation  was  started  in  Callao.  It  lived  through 
tremendous  hostility,  suffering  mob  violence  and  the  im- 
prisonment of  its  pastor,  Penzotti,  lasting  over  eight  months. 
Later  another  was  gathered  in  Lima  under  assurances  from 
both  friends  and  foes  that  it  could  not  be  maintained, — that 
blood  would  flow  as  a  consequence  of  attempting  it.  But  it 
has  been  thriving  for  eight  years  with  no  bloodshed.  These 
belong  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  which  has  the 
beginnings  of  similar  congregations  at  many  places  through- 
out those  lands. 

The  school  work  of  the  Methodists  in  Callao  and  Lima 
deserves  a  chapter  by  itself  to  set  forth  the  struggles  over  its 
legal  status,  the  importance  it  has  attained,  the  excellent 
work  done  and  the  outlook  for  such  effort  in  those  lands.  It 
is  under  the  able  leadership  of  Miss  Elsie  Wood  and  Rev. 
M.  J.  Pusey  and  wife,  and  is  a  splendid  success,  despite 
hostility  from  priesthood  and  Schoolcraft  combined  to  crush 
it.  If  it  had  adequate  buildings,  it  would  acquire  in- 
calculable power.  Educational  work,  in  a  field  where 
preaching  is  under  legal  restrictions,  becomes  important  in  a 
way  that  is  out  of  all  comparison  with  other  fields.  Mis- 
sions everywhere  require  education,  but  in  the  Land  of  the 
Incas  education  is  destined  to  open  the  way  for  the  gospel 
as  nowhere  else.  No  other  form  of  effort  approaches  it  in 
effectiveness  for  stopping  the  mouths  of  enemies,  breaking 
down  prejudices,  gaining  popular  sympathy  and  tightening 
grip  on  the  public  mind.  The  Bible  work  opens  more 
doors,  but  the  school  work  opens  more  hearts  than  anything 
else  in  that  field. 

A  strategic  centre  of  importance  is  Cuzco  in  southern 
Peru,  the  old  Inca  capital.     In  1895  two  young  men  from 

152 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  INCAS 

the  East  London  Mission  Institute,  J.  L.  Jarrett  and  F.  J. 
Peters,  went  there.  They  were  promptly  banished  from  the 
city.  This  was  so  illegal  that  it  gave  them  ground  for 
claiming  indemnity  as  British  subjects.  Their  legation  took 
up  the  case  and  a  moderate  indemnity  in  cash  was  paid  to 
them  by  the  national  government.  Peters  took  his  share 
and  went  to  North  America  and  England  to  encourage 
friends.  Jarrett  married  a  wife,  who  just  then  arrived  from 
England  to  join  him,  and  returned  to  Cuzco,  where  he  com- 
menced a  very  encouraging  work.  But  the  priesthood 
managed  to  make  the  ground  untenable  and  he  withdrew. 
In  1898,  however,  he  returned  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peters 
and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Newell.  They  are  all  there  yet  with 
large  plans  for  the  future,  and  thus  the  ancient  headquarters 
of  Incaism  proves  tenable  for  the  gospel.  The  East  London 
Institute  workers  also  have  a  good  beginning  of  native  work 
in  Trujillo,  on  the  coast  of  Peru. 

In  Lima  there  is  a  native  of  Chile,  Sr.  Escubar,  who 
represents  the  Seventh  Day,  Second  Advent  Baptists  of 
Battle  Creek,  Michigan,  and  circulates  considerable  quanti- 
ties of  their  literature. 

There  is  also  in  Lima  an  independent  worker  from  Eng- 
land, Mr.  C.  H.  Bright,  who  represents  no  regular  agency. 
He  is  a  Second  Advent  immersionist,  but  holds  to  the  Sun- 
day. He  derives  support  from  private  sources,  has  two 
young  men  from  England  as  helpers  and  works  in  Spanish 
in  Lima  and  Huacho. 

The  American  Bible  Society  stands  far  above  all  other 
agencies  in  the  importance  and  scope  of  work  done  for  evan- 
gelizing the  Land  of  the  Incas.  Its  operations  are  expand- 
ing more  and  more  of  late  and  give  greater  and  greater 
encouragement. 

Last  but  not  least  must  be  mentioned  the  Woman's  For- 
153 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

eign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Churchy 
whose  cooperation  in  Calla.o  and  Lima  has  been  signally 
blessed  of  God.  Women's  work  for  women  includes  also 
the  activities  of  the  wives  of  the  men  above  referred  to. 
The  wife  of  the  Methodist  Presiding  Elder  often  has  to 
carry  the  full  responsibilities  of  a  superintendent  at  head- 
quarters while  he  is  on  his  long  journeys. 

The  Methodist  work  and  the  Bible  work  have  their  head- 
quarters on  the  Plaza  of  the  Inquisition,  Lima,  exactly  in 
front  of  the  old  Inquisition  building.  Thus,  then,  the  Land 
of  the  Incas  has  been  proven  tenable. 

(2)  Ecuador. — The  republic  of  Ecuador  in  1896-7  made 
a  new  constitution  establishing  religious  liberty,  and  thus 
sprung  at  once  from  the  most  backward  to  the  most  ad- 
vanced position  among  the  three  Incas  countries.  The 
laws  are  not  yet  fully  harmonized  with  this  change,  but 
they  are  coming  to  it  with  every  session  of  congress.  This 
wonderful  opening  was  promptly  entered  by  the  Methodists 
with  native  preachers  and  colporteurs,  and  also  by  workers 
from  North  America  sent  out  by  the  Gospel  Union  of 
Kansas  City,  Mo.,  and  by  the  Christian  and  Missionary 
Alliance  of  New  York  City.  Most  encouraging  work  has 
been  done  in  both  coasts  and  highlands.  In  1899  the  gov- 
ernment engaged  the  Methodist  Presiding  Elder  to  organize 
a  system  of  national  normal  schools,  with  foreign  Protestants 
as  the  chief  teachers.  This  remarkable  new  departure  is 
just  going  into  effect. 

(3)  In  Bolivia  the  new  capital.  La  Paz,  was  occupied  for 
some  time  by  Methodist  colporteurs,  and  is  now  occupied 
by  Canadian  Baptist  workers,  who  also  have  made  a  good 
start  in  the  important  city  of  Oruro. 

3.  The  Work  Produces  Converts  Regenerated  in  Heart 
and  Life. — Much  might  be  said  on  this  vital  point.     Suffice 

154 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  INCAS 

it  to  state  that  various  bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  with  world-wide  observation  of  missions,  have  ex- 
pressed special  satisfaction  with  the  type  of  spirituality  which 
they  have  found  in  that  field. 

4.  //  Produces  Workers  for  its  Unlimited  Expaiision. 
— Nearly  all  the  pioneering  in  Bolivia,  Peru  and  Ecuador 
has  been  done  by  men  converted  in  South  America.  The 
preaching  was  carried  on  in  Callao,  during  Penzotti's  long 
imprisonment,  by  one  of  his  Peruvian  converts,  Jose  Q. 
Illescas.  All  kinds  of  church  work  are  now  carried  on  by 
such  men.  The  school  work  has  developed  a  strong  staff 
of  local  teachers. 

5.  The  Work  is  Tending  toward  Sweeping  Revivals. — 
The  beginnings  of  such  a  revival  were  felt  in  Callao  in  1897, 
during  a  visit  of  Dr.  Harry  Grattan  Guinness  to  reorganize 
the  work  of  the  men  from  his  institute  in  that  field.  He 
assembled  them  all  in  Callao,  where  the  Methodist  forces, 
led  by  Rev.  J.  M.  Spangler,  joined  with  him,  and  the  whole 
English-speaking  community  was  convulsed  by  a  revival 
movement,  the  like  of  which  had  never  been  known  in  those 
parts  of  the  world. 

It  was  limited  to  English,  but  the  Spa7iish- speaking  masses 
showed  signs  of  the  impressibility  that  promises  in  the  future 
tremendous  movements  of  that  kind  among  them.  The  far- 
flung  pioneering  is  preparing  for  such  movements  on  a  vast 
scale.  And  when  those  movements  come,  the  Inca  lands 
will  give  them  a  singular  scope  and  power,  due  to  excep- 
tional degrees  of  homogeneity  and  kinship  among  the  peoples 
of  those  three  republics,  uniting  them  more  closely  than  any 
other  three  nations  on  the  continent,  while  each  one  of  the 
three  furnishes  peculiar  strategic  advantages  for  reacting  on 
the  other  two. 

6.  Legal  Difficulties  are  Disappearing. — Penzotti's  long 

155 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

imprisonment,  resulting  in  his  release  unconderaned  by  de- 
cision of  the  supreme  court  of  Peru,  gave  a  vantage  ground 
of  supreme  importance  in  Peru,  and  of  telling  effect  in 
Bolivia  and  Ecuador  also.  The  death  of  a  child  of  a  mis- 
sionary, at  whose  interment  the  missionary  himself  had  to 
officiate,  gave  him  the  occasion  to  use  the  natural  right  of 
solemnizing  the  burial  of  his  dead  according  to  his  own 
conscience,  under  circumstances  which  placed  that  right 
beyond  question  in  Peru.  The  agitation  was  carried  into 
the  adjacent  republics  and  resulted  lately  in  a  law  seculariz- 
ing all  the  cemeteries  in  Ecuador.  This  will  help  secure 
the  same  measure  in  Peru  and  Bolivia.  The  marriage  of 
the  daughter  of  a  missionary  gave  occasion  for  him  to  insist 
upon  the  legal  recognition  of  that  marriage,  till  he  secured 
it  after  four  and  a  half  years  of  fighting  for  it,  m  which 
were  secured  acts  of  congress  establishing  civil  marriage  in 
Peru.  The  same  measure  is  now  pending  in  the  parliaments 
of  both  Ecuador  and  Bolivia.  Constitutional  reform  with 
religious  liberty  has  been  secured  in  Ecuador,  which  fact 
has  a  powerful  influence  in  Peru  and  Bolivia,  where  the 
same  change  is  now  agitated.  This  shows  immense  prog- 
ress since  1890,  when  Penzotti  was  in  prison,  and  a  motion 
made  in  the  Peruvian  congress  looking  toward  religious  lib- 
erty was  promptly  rejected,  causing  the  mover  to  be  burned 
in  effigy.  Now  one  of  the  political  parties  in  Peru  has  de- 
clared for  disestablishment  of  the  official  church  and  full 
religious  liberty.  Thus  at  last  the  day  draws  nigh  when 
freedom  to  worship  God  will  be  realized  throughout  the 
Land  of  the  Incas. 

7.  The  whole  outlook  is  glorious ,  in  the  light  of  results 
attained  in  other  parts  of  both  Americas.  When  the  legal 
drawbacks  are  further  removed  and  the  moral  drawbacks 
are  somewhat  counteracted,  immigration  will  pour  into  those 

156 


THE   LAND  OF  THE  INCAS 

countries  through  the  river  traffic  on  the  east  and  the  ocean 
traffic  on  the  west.  The  territory  is  nearly  as  large  as  all 
India,  and  can  hold  a  population  as  dense  as  India  with  the 
advantage  of  a  better  climate.  It  is  more  Europeanized 
now  than  that  empire,  and  welcomes  Europeans  and  them 
only.  That  territory  was  once  the  home  of  a  civilization 
that  amazed  Europe.  It  was  then  the  culmination  of  hu- 
manity in  the  torrid  zone,  with  smaller  areas  analogous  to  it 
in  Mexico  and  India.  It  has  fallen  from  its  high  position 
by  one  cause, — Romanism.  When  that  cause  is  counter- 
acted by  the  gospel,  the  Land  of  the  Incas  will  rise  again, 
and  display  a  new  culmination  of  human  welfare,  lofty, 
grand  and  glorious. 

IV.  An  Appeal  to  Women.— The  Land  of  the  Incas  is 
peculiarly  interesting  for  intelligent  Christian  women. 

1.  Its  history  is  a  thrilling  romance.  It  begins  with  a 
civilization  whose  origin  is  lost  in  mystery,  whose  records 
were  kept  on  knotted  strings  and  whose  remains  are  to-day 
a  marvel  to  the  traveler.  It  progresses  with  the  story  of 
European  discovery  and  conquest,  the  heroism  of  Iberian 
knights-errant,  their  triumph  over  the  men  and  their  sur- 
render to  the  women  of  the  Incan  blood  royal — the  gen- 
erous sons  and  lovely  daughters  that  sprung  from  the  two 
races— to  pursue  the  ideals  of  two  civilizations,  but  to  pur- 
sue them  in  vain.  It  ends  with  a  doleful  record  of  civil 
wars,  financial  ruin  and  moral  decline,  as  found  in  the  re- 
publics of  Bolivia,  Peru  and  Ecuador. 

2.  While  the  Spanish  cavaliers  were  conquering  the  men, 
Spanish  priests  were  subjugating  the  women  of  the  empire 
of  the  Incas.  And  when  the  conquerors  surrendered  their 
chivalrous  hearts  and  swords  to  the  native  women,  they  sur- 
rendered their  all  to  the  priests  who  dominated  those  women, 
and  who  thenceforth  through  them  dominated  the  men,  the 

157 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

swords,  the  estates,  the  viceroyalties  and  the  republics. 
From  that  day  to  this,  priestcraft  has  blasted  every  good 
thing  and  made  impossible  adequate  reform  in  those  lands. 

3.  Protestantism  was  never  near  to  protest  against  it. 
The  fires  of  the  Inquisition  blazed  in  Lima  as  in  Madrid,  with 
the  Reformation  on  the  other  side  of  the  globe,  and  made 
terriffic  the  idea  of  opposing  it.  To  this  day  the  laws  of 
Peru  and  Bolivia  exclude  all  public  worship  except  the 
Roman  Catholic,  and  the  influence  of  priests  and  monks 
and  nuns  is  more  dominant  there  than  anywhere  else. 
Ecuador  has  changed  its  laws  recently  to  admit  freedom  of 
worship,  but  still  more  recently  has  had  an  old-fashioned 
auto  da  fe  in  its  capital,  Quito,  burning  Bibles  in  the  chief 
plaza.  A  woman  was  formally  burned  to  death  by  priests 
in  Peru  only  a  few  years  ago,  and  two  others  were  subse- 
quently threatened  with  the  same  fate, — all  for  disobedience 
to  ecclesiastical  authority. 

4.  But  worse  than  exclusive  laws,  or  inquisition  fires,  is  a 
mysterious  spell  that  binds  the  women  to  the  confessional. 
The  men  are  largely  free  from  this.  Indeed,  if  it  were  not 
for  the  influence  of  the  women  over  the  men  they  could  not 
be  held  to  the  confessional  at  all.  Most  men  feel  by  instinct 
that  a  man,  like  themselves,  cannot  forgive  sins ;  but  the 
women  do  not  seem  to  feel  that.  Here  is  a  mystery  of 
woman's  nature.  Thoughtful  men  all  over  South  America 
have  been  for  two  centuries  seeking  a  way  to  break  the 
power  of  monasticism  and  the  confessional ;  but  the  women 
still  continue  bowing  down  to  it,  and  training  their  children 
to  bow  also.  "Father,  forgive  them,  they  know  not  what 
they  do,"  for  they  have  no  gospel. 

5.  That  unnatural  spell  of  the  priests  over  woman,  to- 
gether with  the  natural  power  of  woman  over  childhood  and 
manhood,  renders  the  condition  of  those  countries  hopeless, 

158 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  INCAS 

The  Mohammedan  harem  or  the  Hindu  zenana  is  not  more 
hopeless  or  more  blasting  than  the  South  American  confes- 
sion box,  in  those  parts  of  the  continent  where  Protestant- 
ism has  not  yet  modified  its  power.  To  break  that  spell 
where  its  power  is  less  modified  to-day  than  in  any  other 
part  of  the  world, — to  emancipate  enslaved  womanhood  in 
the  Land  of  the  Incas,  God  is  calling  the  womanhood  of 
happier  lands  to  move  to  the  rescue. 

6.  Women  surpass  men  as  workers  in  that  field.  A 
singular  feature  of  the  situation  is  that  public  preaching  is 
under  ban  of  law,  while  teaching  enjoys  larger  liberty,  and 
female  teachers  especially  exercise  extraordinary  influence. 
In  the  same  city,  Callao,  where  preachers  have  suffered  from 
mobs  and  imprisonment  while  founding  an  evangelical 
church.  Miss  Elsie  Wood  has  founded  a  system  of  evan- 
gelical schools,  with  welcome  from  the  general  public  and 
approval  from  the  authorities.  In  Lima,  where  the  Metho- 
dist Presiding  Elder  has  been  stopped  by  the  authorities  in 
the  midst  of  a  sermon  and  marched  off  to  prison,  she  has 
been  for  years  a  conspicuous  teacher  of  high  caste  native 
young  ladies,  with  special  applause  from  the  provincial  in- 
spector of  schools. 

7.  No  other  mission  field  seems  likely  to  have  its  evan- 
gelization so  largely  in  the  hands  of  women  as  the  Land  of 
the  Incas,  where  woman's  work  for  women  occupies  the  strong- 
est attainable  vantage  ground, — the  vantage  ground  best 
adapted  for  breaking  the  power  of  priestcraft  over  the  pres- 
ent and  the  coming  generations, — for  turning  those  nations 
from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto 
God. 


«S9 


COLOMBIA 


VIII 

COLOMBIA 

By  Mrs.  T.  S.  Pond 
Formerly  a  Missionary  in  Barranquilla,  Colombia. 

1.  The  Aborigines. — i.  The  Arhuacos  and  Catholic 
Effort. — Between  Colombia  and  Venezuela,  extending  north- 
ward from  the  general  coast  line,  is  the  Peninsula  of  Goajira 
(Gwahira)  inhabited  by  Indians  called  Arhuacos  (Ar-wah- 
kuz),  who,  to  judge  from  their  dialect  and  their  customs, 
are  related  to  the  tribes  of  Mexico.  Their  first  chieftains, 
still  renowned  in  song  and  story,  Kaimara  and  Tusares, 
were  once  vassals  of  the  Grand  Montezuma.  It  is  now 
many  years  since  this  people  saw  their  land  entered  by  Ro- 
man Catholic  missionaries.  Little  has  been  accomplished 
by  them.  They  have  not  given  the  Indians  the  word  of 
God ;  they  have  taught  them  to  worship  images  of  the  Vir- 
gin and  saints,  which,  in  their  minds,  is  only  another  form 
of  idolatry.  Very  few  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  have 
penetrated  into  the  interior.  The  work  among  the  Indians 
has  been  committed  to  the  care  of  the  Capuchin  Fathers  in 
Barranquilla,  who  have  installed  themselves  in  Riohacha. 
They  do  little  for  the  Indians  but  make  them  slaves  and 
fanatics.  This  is  the  statement  of  Rev.  Gabriel  A.  Tavel, 
now  ex-priest,  who  visited  these  Indians  in  1898  as  a  Ro- 
man Catholic  missionary.  He  found  them  kind  and  hos- 
pitable, although  their  temperament  is  warlike. 

2.  How  to  Reach   Them. — In  his  opinion   they  can  be 
readily  reached  by  schools  and  especially  through  song,  as 

163 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

music  has  a  fascination  for  these  people.  Since  the  people 
are  to-day  in  many  respects  more  or  less  civilized  and  de- 
sirous of  exchanging  with  foreigners  the  natural  products  of 
the  interior,  it  would  seem  to  be  a  good  time  to  send  out 
evangelists  who  would  carry  to  these  benighted  tribes  the 
light  of  the  gospel.  The  Indian  is  naturally  distrustful.  It 
therefore  needs  much  tact  and  prudence  to  attract  him ;  but 
after  an  acquaintance  of  days  and  months  and  when  he  be- 
gins to  see  that  only  his  own  real  good  is  sought,  he  makes 
a  faithful  friend  to  the  missionary  and  a  true  companion 
who  will  do  anything  to  show  his  gratitude. 

3.  The  customs  of  these  Indians ^  though  not  entirely 
those  of  savages,  are  yet  not  greatly  removed  from  bar- 
barism. One  of  these  is  the  abandoning  of  children  soon 
after  birth.  They  are  placed  in  huts  made  for  the  purpose 
and  concealed  in  the  mountains,  where  the  children  grow 
up  wholly  separated  from  father  and  mother  until  the  age  of 
fourteen  years.  Certain  persons  of  the  tribe  are  selected  to 
look  after  the  bodily  wants  of  the  children,  who  are  simply 
supplied  with  food,  consisting  principally  of  bananas.  Men 
and  women  in  the  villages  occupy  separate  huts,  and  there 
is  no  family  life  whatever.  Boys  begin  to  hunt  and  farm 
for  themselves  when  fourteen  years  old.  Girls  at  an  earlier 
age  are  brought  to  the  chief  of  the  tribe  when  an  old  woman 
instructs  them  in  the  few  things  that  an  Indian  housekeeper 
must  know.  Sickness,  they  believe,  is  caused  by  evil  spir- 
its, and  every  effort  is  made  to  charm  them  away.  If  there 
is  no  improvement  and  no  hope  of  recovery,  the  patient  is 
often  strangled.  The  burial  customs  are  peculiar,  as  the 
bodies  are  buried  in  a  sitting  posture,  and  into  the  grave  all 
their  valuables  and  ornaments  are  cast.  No  Protestant 
work  has  as  yet  been  done  among  these  heathen  Indians. 

II.  The  Pioneers  and  the  Founding  of  Protestant 
164 


COLOMBIA 

Work. — The  early  settlers  of  Colombia  were  Roman 
Catholics  from  Spain.  The  Roman  Catholic  religion  is  es- 
tablished bylaw,  though  other  religions  are  tolerated,  "if 
not  contrary  to  Christian  morals  or  the  law."  The  first 
Protestant  missionary  to  the  republic  of  Colombia — then 
called  New  Granada — was  the  Rev.  Horace  B.  Pratt  sent  in 
1856  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  (North)  to  Bogota,  the 
capital.  Two  years  later  he  was  followed  by  Rev.  Samuel 
M.  Sharpe  and  wife.  In  that  year  the  first  Protestant  serv- 
ices in  Spanish  were  held,  and  these  called  out  bitter  op- 
position on  the  part  of  the  priests.  The  missionaries  were 
protected  by  the  civil  authorities,  but  the  terrible  threats  of 
excommunication  prevented  many  from  attending  the  serv- 
ices. A  Sunday-school,  night-school  and  Bible  class  were 
opened  in  that  year.  In  i860  Mr.  Pratt  returned  to  the 
United  States  and  Mr.  Sharpe  died.  In  1861  the  first 
Church  was  organized  with  six  members. 

For  twenty  years  there  were  frequent  changes  in  the  mis- 
sion force.  There  were  never  more  than  two  families  on  the 
ground  at  once,  often  only  one,  and  when  in  1880  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Caldwell  and  Mrs.  Margaret  Ramsey  arrived,  they  found 
Miss  Kate  McFarren,  who  had  opened  a  girls'  school  in 
1869,  there  alone.  The  small  force  of  missionaries  had 
prevented  the  work  from  making  great  progress  until  this 
time,  when  new  interest  seemed  to  be  awakened,  and  the 
work  has  gone  steadily  forward  in  spite  of  the  unsettled 
state  of  the  country  and  frequent  revolutions. 

III.  Recent  Efforts. — i.  Presbyterians  in  Bogota. — In 
1886  Mr.  Caldwell  was  able  to  make  his  first  evangelistic 
tour,  reaching  over  fifty  cities  and  towns.  In  1889  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Caldwell,  returning  from  a  visit  to  the  United  States, 
brought  with  them  two  young  missionaries  of  great  promise, 
Professor  Findlay  who  was  to  have  charge  of  a  boys'  school 

165 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

in  Bogota  and  Miss  Addie  C.  Ramsey,  to  join  her  sister  Mrs. 
Candor  in  Barranquilla.  Much  was  hoped  and  expected 
from  the  coming  of  these  new  missionaries,  but  they  had 
been  exposed  to  yellow  fever  on  the  journey  and  four  days 
after  her  arrival  in  Barranquilla  Miss  Ramsey  died.  Pro- 
fessor Findlay  had  already  started  up  the  river  when  he,  too, 
fell  a  victim  to  the  same  disease  and  was  buried  at  the  Port 
of  Sogamoso. 

Bogota  is  a  city  in  the  clouds,  nearly  9,000  feet  above 
sea-level;  the  population  is  somewhat  above  100,000.  This 
station  is  now  well  manned.  In  1897  the  reported  Church 
membership  was  112,  and  at  each  communion  season  ad- 
ditions are  received,  in  1898  seventeen  being  added  to  the 
Church,  while  upwards  of  300  attend  the  services.  There 
is  manifest  bigotry  and  also  much  ignorance  and  indifference 
in  Bogota.  Thus  people  go  to  mass  on  Sunday  mornings 
and  attend  bull  fights  in  the  afternoon,  while  the  priests 
threaten  all  who  have  anything  to  do  with  Protestants  ;  yet 
in  spite  of  all  opposition  the  work  grows. 

2.  Southern  Presbyterians. — Barranquilla,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Magdalena  river,  is  one  of  the  most  important 
cities  of  Colombia.  There  is  less  bigotry  than  in  Bogota, 
this  city  of  some  40,000  inhabitants  having  only  three 
Roman  Catholic  churches,  but  there  is  also  much  greater 
license,  immorality  and  superstition.  It  was  first  perma- 
nently occupied  as  a  mission  station  of  the  Presbyterian 
Board  (North)  in  1888  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Candor  who  had 
had  six  years'  experience  in  Bogota.  Some  twenty  years  be- 
fore that,  however,  the  station  had  been  occupied  for  a  short 
time  by  three  Southern  Presbyterian  missionaries.  While 
these  missionaries  did  not  remain  long,  they  prepared  the 
way  for  later  efforts. 

Here  mention  must  be  made  of  a  layman,  Mr.  Adam 
166 


COLOMBIA 

Erwtft,  who  laid  foundations  in  Barranquilla  by  giving 
Christian  education,  teaching  the  Bible,  and  being  himself 
a  living  epistle.  He  went  to  Barranquilla  with  Mr.  Pratt  as 
a  teacher  for  his  children.  When  the  Southern  Presby- 
terians withdrew  he  remained.  He  used  to  say,  <'  God 
opened  the  way  for  me  to  come,  but  He  has  never  opened 
it  for  me  to  go  away."  He  stayed  alone  unsupported  by 
any  Board,  dwarfed  and  bent  and  crippled  in  body,  yet 
with  a  fine,  intelligent  face,  a  brave  spirit  and  a  heart  full  of 
love  for  souls.  He  gathered  young  people  about  him  and 
taught  them  in  his  home.  Rev.  Mr.  Norwood  of  the 
A.  B.  S.  says  :  "In  canvassing  Barranquilla,  in  every  corner 
I  found  pupils  of  Mr.  Erwin  with  Bibles — out  among  the 
villages  in  almost  every  town  I  found  the  same — God's 
Word  scattered  far  and  wide  by  a  man  who  could  not  cross 
his  doorstone."  When  Mr.  Erwin  died  in  1897,  over 
seventy  years  of  age,  crowds  of  both  rich  and  poor  and  of 
all  sects  and  colors  attended  the  funeral.  Several  hun- 
dreds followed  the  good  old  man  to  his  last  resting-place 
where  appropriate  services  were  held.  One  of  the  priests 
of  the  city  said  :  ''  Mr.  Erwin  was  truly  a  good  man  ;  the 
only  wrong  thing  about  him  was  his  religion." 

3.  Northern  Presbyterian  Work. — Mr.  Erwin  left  his 
little  home,  purchased  with  his  own  earnings,  to  the  Presby- 
terian Mission.  It  is  used,  as  he  would  wish — for  a  school 
for  poor  children, — and  is  taught  by  one  who  was  herself 
brought  to  Jesus  through  his  teaching  and  prayers.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Candor,  therefore,  found  the  field  ready  for  them, 
and  in  Mr.  Erwin  a  true  helper.  A  church  was  organized, 
without  the  usual  long  waiting  time  necessary  in  a  new  field, 
a  Sunday-school  was  established,  and  a  day-school  opened. 
In  1 89 1  Rev.  Theodore  S.  Pond  joined  the  Barranquilla 
station,  followed  by  Mrs.  Pond  a  year  later.     A  boys'  board- 

167 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

ing-school  was  maintained  by  them  for  two  years  with  most 
encouraging  results.  A  home  was  found  for  three  of  these 
boys  in  the  States,  where  they  have  continued  their  educa- 
tion. In  1898  it  was  again  opened  with  boarding  depart- 
ment. It  was  self-supporting  from  the  first  and  the  pupils 
numbered  over  one  hundred.  The  breaking  out  of  the 
Revolution  compelled  the  closing  of  this  school  and  reduced 
the  number  of  girls  in  the  girls'  school  from  seventy  to  forty. 
The  free  school  for  poor  children  remained  open.  All  forms 
of  missionary  work  are  crippled  by  the  war.  When  peace 
is  again  established,  there  is  every  reason  to  expect  greater 
success  than  ever  in  Barranquilla.  The  congregation  is 
constantly  growing  in  numbers  and  interest,  and  new  mem- 
bers are  being  added  to  the  church. 

4.  Medellin,  the  second  city  in  size  in  Colombia, — 
population  about  40,000, — was  first  occupied  in  1889  by 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Touzeau,  who  carried  on  the  work  alone  until 
1899  when  they  were  joined  by  Miss  Riley.  Touring,  dis- 
tributing Scriptures  and  tracts,  publishing  a  small  paper, 
preaching  and  school  work  have  all  been  carried  on,  and  a 
church  has  been  organized.  The  school  numbers  120 
pupils,  and  concerning  it  the  Mission  writes  :  "  We  give 
only  simple  instruction  in  common  branches,  but  teach  the 
children  to  think  for  themselves.  Religious  instruction  is 
made  prominent."  At  one  time  rich  ladies  and  gentlemen 
were  appointed  by  the  priest  to  go  to  the  homes  of  the  chil- 
dren who  attended  the  Protestant  school  and  offer  them 
books,  food,  clothing  and  tuition  free,  if  they  would  sign  a 
paper  promising  to  take  their  children  out  of  the  Protestant 
school  and  send  them  to  a  Roman  Catholic  school.  Many 
of  the  people  are  so  poor,  that  some  accepted  the  offer, 
though* none  of  the  best  pupils  were  lost.  Although  Medel- 
lin is  a  very  fanatical  city,  the  labors  of  these  devoted  mis- 

168 


COLOMBIA 

sionaries  have  already  done  much  to  break  down  prejudice ; 
and  when  after  a  visit  to  the  United  States  they  returned  to 
their  field,  they  were  enthusiastically  welcomed  even  by 
some  of  the  Roman  Catholics. 

5.  Bible  Work  in  Biicaraiiianga. — Rev.  Joseph  Norwood 
of  the  American  Bible  Society,  who  has  done  much  for 
gospel  work  in  Venezuela  and  throughout  Colombia,  is  now 
making  his  headquarters  in  Bucaramanga.  There  he  has  a 
printing  press,  and  is  also  engaged  in  selling  and  distributing 
Bibles,  portions  of  Scripture  and  religious  works. 

6.  While  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  North  has  no 
organized  local  work  in  Colombia,  the  West  coast  towns 
have  been  repeatedly  canvassed  by  its  colporteurs,  acting 
under  the  direction  of  their  missionaries  at  Lima,  Peru. 

IV.  Most  Effective  forms  of  Effort. — i.  School  work 
in  Roman  Catholic  countries  is  most  important,  not  only 
because  of  the  Protestant  principles  that  may  be  instilled 
into  the  minds  of  the  young,  but  because  of  the  influence 
of  the  children  in  their  homes.  Many  parents  have  first 
heard  the  Word  of  Life  from  their  children's  lips.  "A 
little  ch^ld  shall  lead  them  "  has  been  true  in  many  instances. 
Parents  appreciate  the  benefits  of  education,  though  they 
may  careXnothing  for  religion.  The  teachers  are  mission- 
aries and  tlie  aim  of  all  their  teaching  is  to  win  souls  to 
Christ.  The  Bible  is  a  daily  text-book;  psalms  and 
chapters  are  cominitted  to  memory ;  hymns  are  learned  and 
sung ;  and  daily  the  children  bow  their  heads  in  prayer  to 
God  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  It  is  therefore  a  cause  for  re- 
joicing that  the  Bogota  boys'  school,  the  boarding-school  for 
girls  and  young  women,  and  the  free  school  for  poor  children 
were  progressing  most  satisfactorily  up  to  the  time  of  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Revolution  in  1899.  It  is  in  the  hoard- 
ing-schools  that   best  results  are  obtained;    for  there  the 

169 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

pupils  are  taken  entirely  away  from  home  influences  and  are 
constantly  under  the  care  of  their  teachers. 

2.  Very  much  is  accomplished  by  evangelistic  touring. 
Bibles  and  portions  of  Scripture  and  evangelical  literature 
are  sold  and  distributed ;  tracts  and  leaflets  are  given  away ; 
public  services  are  held ;  classes  for  Bible  study  are  organ- 
ized and  much  private  conversation  on  religious  subjects 
with  the  people  is  possible.  A  magic  lantern,  Bible  pictures, 
a  baby  organ,  and  singing  are  great  attractions  and  draw 
the  people.  Sometimes  the  touring  missionary  remains 
several  weeks  in  one  place,  thus  creating  a  more  permanent 
impression. 

The  following  is  one  instance  of  seed  sown  on  a  mis- 
sionary tour  which  brought  forth  fruit  after  many  years. 
In  1877  an  intelligent  lawyer,  living  some  three  hundred 
miles  north  of  Bogota,  met  and  talked  with  Rev.  H.  B. 
Pratt.  Much  impressed  by  the  truth  as  it  was  presented  to 
him,  he  obtained  and  read  a  Bible;  but  it  was  not  until 
twenty  years  after  meeting  Mr.  Pratt  that  he  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  attending  Protestant  worship,  or  hearing  more 
of  their  doctrines.  Then  he  made  application  to  the  Bogota 
church  and  was  received  to  its  membership,  having  given 
satisfactory  evidence  of  conversion,  and  of  a  true  under- 
standing, of  Bible  truths.  God's  Word  shall  not  return 
unto  Him  void. 

V.  Some  Colombian    Converts. — Brief  sketches  of 
a  few  of  those  whose  lives  have  been  transformed  by  the 
.  gospel  will  show  the  kind  of  Christians  produced  by  mis- 
sionary eflbrt  and  what  may  be  done  for  the  people. 

I.  Many  years  ago  an  intelligent  man,  Heraclio  Osoona, 
came  under  the  influence  of  Protestant  missionaries  in 
Bogota.  He  with  his  wife  united  with  the  church,  and 
later  he  was  made  an  elder.     Their  children  were  from 

170 


COLOMBIA 

time  to  time  presented  for  baptism  and  as  these  grew  older 
they  also  united  with  the  church.  Sixteen  years  ago  the 
family  removed  to  Venezuela  and  Dr.  Osoona  is  now  an 
elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Caracas,  while  his 
daughters  have  charge  of  the  Protestant  school  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Presbyterian  Mission. 

2.  Juan  Cortez,  one  of  the  oldest  Protestants  in  Barran- 
quilla,  was  converted  under  Mr.  Pratt's  influence.  For 
many  years  he  stood  almost  alone,  yet  he  remained  firm  in 
the  faith.  When  a  church  was  finally  organized  there, 
Mr.  Cortez  was  made  an  elder  and  continues  to  be  a  faith- 
ful helper,  an  earnest,  consistent  Christian,  who  brings 
up  his  children  in  the  right  way  and  constantly  witnesses 
for  Christ. 

3.  Rev.  Manuel  Ferrando,  formerly  Father  Superior  of  a 
monastery  in  Spain,  later  Roman  Catholic  missionary  to  South 
America,  but  now  an  earnest  Protestant  missionary  in  Puerto 
Rico,  will  ever  remember  Barranquilla  as  the  scene  of  his 
final  conflict  with  Rome.  From  the  missionary  there  he 
received  counsel  and  advice  which  encouraged  him  to 
break  forever  from  the  bondage  of  Romanism.  Four  years 
later  Rev.  Gabriel  A.  Tavel,  a  French  Catholic  missionary 
who,  like  Mr.  Ferrando,  had  long  been  searching  the 
Scriptures,  and  who  was  influenced  by  his  example,  left 
Barranquilla  for  Caracas  where  he  took  off  his  priest's  robes, 
was  baptized  and  united  with  the  church.  He  is  now  an  as- 
sistant in  the  Presbyterian  mission  there. 

4.  An  instance  of  the  influence  of  a  daughter's  life  upon 
a  mother  is  that  of  Esteer  Garcia  who  for  some  years  now 
has  been  a  teacher  in  the  school  for  poor  children  in  Barran- 
quilla. Her  consistent  life  and  patience  under  much  per- 
secution and  provocation  was  the  means  used  by  the  Spirit 
to   convert,  not  only  her  mother  but  her  grandmother,  a 

171 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

woman  over  sixty  years  of  age.  Both  these  women  had 
been  bad  characters  of  ungovernable  tempers,  and  for  a 
long  time  they  made  Esteer's  life  bitter  by  their  treatment 
of  her.  When  they  were  converted  their  very  tempers  were 
transformed.  In  1896  they  were  received  into  the  church, 
after  baptism  and  confession  of  faith,  and  became  a  help 
in  the  gospel  work.  The  grandmother,  now  partly  para- 
lyzed and  nearly  blind,  is  waiting  the  Master's  call.  Death 
is  not  the  terror  to  her  that  it  once  was ;  for  she  knows  that 
she  has  not  to  pass  through  the  horrors  of  purgatory,  but 
that  her  sins,  though  many,  have  all  been  blotted  out  in  the 
blood  of  Jesus. 

5.  General  Statement. — Not  all  Colombian  Protestants 
are  all  that  they  should  be,  nor  do  all  of  those  who  seem 
to  have  been  converted  remain  firm  in  the  faith ;  but  con- 
sidering their  early  surroundings  and  teachings  and  the 
influences  still  brought  to  bear  upon  them,  they  compare 
well  with  converts  in  any  mission  field.  Of  a  young 
man  who  united  with  the  church  in  Barranquilla  in  1898 
his  employer  said:  "I  have  never  seen  a  more  remarkable 
change.  His  influence  over  the  other  young  men  in  the 
establishment  is  wonderful.  He  is  instant  in  season  and  out 
of  season." 

VI.  Principal  Results  Accomplished  by  Missions 
in  Colombia. — These  are  the  breaking  down  of  prejudice 
and  opposition,  the  general  enlightenment  of  the  people, 
and  their  gradual  emancipation  from  the  superstition  and 
bondage  of  Romanism.  As  yet  there  has  not  been  much 
eflected  toward  raising  up  a  native,  self-supporting  ministry, 
though  there  are  some  efficient  lay  helpers,  trained  by  the 
mission.  Christian  education  is  appreciated  and  demanded. 
The  best  results  have  been  in  the  schools  and  of  late  years 
many  of  the  converts  have  been  drawn  from  them.     The 

172 


COLOMBIA 

people  are  learning  to  give  toward  the  support  of  the  gospel 
and  for  the  poor  of  the  congregations,  and  these  contribu- 
tions are  not  small  when  one  considers  the  financial  condi- 
tion of  most  of  the  Protestants.  Missionary  workers  in 
Colombia  have  laid  a  good  foundation,  but  there  is  yet 
much  to  be  done.  Those  who  have  watched  the  progress 
during  the  past  ten  years  are  convinced  that  there  is  great 
hope  for  the  future. 


173 


VENEZUELA 


IX 

VENEZUELA 

By  Mrs.  T.  S.  Pond, 

Caracas,  Venezuela. 

For  ten  years  a  missionary  in  South  America, 

1.  Area  and  Population. — Venezuela  has  been  called 
"the  door  to  South  America."  It  has  an  area  of  593,943 
square  miles,  nearly  all  fertile  land,  rich  in  natural  products 
and  in  mines.  It  has  a  population  of  less  than  two  and  a  half 
millions,  including  some  326,000  Indians.  Forty  times  as 
many  people  might  be  sustained  were  there  a  good  and 
stable  government,  and  if  the  natural  resources  of  the  coun- 
try were  properly  developed.  This,  however,  would  require 
foreign  enterprise,  talent  and  capital. 

II.  Discovery  and  Subsequent  History. — i.  The  east 
coast  of  Venezuela  was  discovered  in  1498  by  Columbus. 
The  following  year,  Ojeda  and  Vespucci  on  entering  Lake 
Maracaibo  found  an  Indian  village  built  on  piles  to  obviate  the 
evils  of  inundation.  They  called  this  Venezuela,  or  ''little 
Venice,"  the  name  afterward  given  to  the  whole  country. 

2.  History. — The  first  Spanish  settlement  was  in  Cu- 
mana  in  1520.  In  181 3  Venezuela  revolting  from  Spain, 
formed  with  New  Granada  and  Ecuador  the  Republic  of 
Colombia  which  was  declared  independent  in  18 19.  In 
1 83 1  the  States  separated  and  since  that  time  Venezuela  has 
been  an  independent  republic,  but  has  been  in  an  al- 
most continual   state  of  civil  war.      One  revolution  fol- 

177 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

lowed  another,  and  between  the  years  1861  and  187 1  over 
60,000  persons  were  killed  in  the  civil  wars.  Then  followed 
a  short  period  of  peace  and  prosperity  under  Guzman 
Blanco.  Within  the  past  two  years  there  have  been  three 
separate  revolutions,  but  on  July  24,  1900,  peace  was  de- 
clared. The  country  has  been  impoverished  by  this  con- 
stant fighting,  and  poverty  and  distress  are  universal, 
especially  in  those  country  districts  which  have  been  the 
seat  of  war. 

III.  Cosmopolitan  Character  of  Population. — i.  The 
Aborigines. — The  Indians  are  quite  different  from  the  In- 
dians of  North  America,  more  nearly  resembling  the  Chinese 
in  appearance,  being  short  and  stout  and  of  a  light  brown 
color.  The  members  of  one  tribe,  however,  are  tall  and 
have  European  features,  with  straight,  black  hair  which  the 
men  wear  uncut.  These  Indians  are  docile,  but  superficial. 
They  have  little  enterprise  and  are  easily  led  by  superior 
minds. 

2.  The  descendants  of  the  original  settlers  of  the  country, 
the  Spaniards. 

3.  Full-blooded  negroes  from  the  West  Indies. 

4.  Foreigners  from  North  America,  Great  Britain,  Ger- 
many, France,  Switzerland,  Scandinavia,  Italy,  some  Chinese 
and  many  Syrians. 

5.  The  so-called  Venezuelans  are  a  mixture  of  all  nation- 
alities, and  seem  to  inherit  the  worst  characteristics  of  each 
nation.  Their  vices  rather  than  their  virtues  are  per- 
petuated. Every  shade  of  color  is  seen,  and  every  language  is 
heard,  although  Spanish  is  the  universal  language  of  the 
country.  While  there  are  many  interesting  and  attractive 
Venezuelans  they  are  as  a  rule  avaricious,  indolent,  thriftless 
and  improvident,  childish  and  irresponsible,  fond  of  show 
and  gaiety,  and  thinking  more  of  appearance  than  of  com- 

178 


VENEZUELA 

fort.  They  spend  when  they  have  work  without  thought  for 
the  future,  and  are  very  often  dishonest  and  untruthful.  It 
is  difficult  for  the  energetic  and  thrifty  North  American  or 
European  to  understand  characters  so  different  from  their 
own. 

IV.    Venezuelan    Homes. — i.     Caracas.— From    Lsl 
Guaira,  the  port  of  the  capital,  a  wonderful  railway,  built 
by  an  English  company,  climbs  the  mountains,  winding  in 
and  out  over  their  spurs.     The  views  of  sea  and  plain  and 
mountain  from  this  road  are  beautiful  beyond  description. 
In  some  places  the  train  winds  about  so  that  one  can  look 
across  a  chasm  from  the  engine  into  the  windows  of  the  last 
car.     Up  into  the  clouds  and  mist  one  goes  some  5,000 
feet  above  sea-level ;  then  down,  until  at  a  height  of  3,000 
feet  Caracas  is  reached.     This  city  is  built  on  the  bed  of  a 
submerged  lake  and  is  surrounded  by  mountains,  the  highest 
being  9,000  feet.     It  has  about  80,000  inhabitants,  and  is 
evenly  laid  out  in  squares,  though  it  is  by  no  means  level, 
some  of  the  streets  being  very  steep.     By  moonlight  or  from 
a  distance  it  is  a  beautiful  city ;  but  near  at  hand  one  sees 
that  the  public  buildings,— which,  as  well  as  the  houses, 
are  built  of  stuccoed  adobe,— are  shabby  in  appearance, 
while  the  pavements  and  streets  are  broken  and  neglected. 
The  Cathedral  stands  on  a  corner  of  the  principal  plaza, 
which  has  a  fine  statue  of  Bolivar  in  its  centre.     The  Roman 
Catholic  churches  are  many.     There  is  a  Pantheon  with 
monuments  for  the  heroes  of  the  revolutions ;  a  fine,  large 
theatre    or    opera  house;    a  university,  capitol  and  other 
public  buildings.     In  the  distance  one  sees  the  gardens  and 
coffee  plantations  that  lie  about  Caracas  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountains,  and  the  four  rivers  that  cross  the  city,  looking 
like  streaks  of  silver  amid  the  deep  green  of  fields  of  cane 
and  corn. 

179 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

2.  Resideiices,  both  in  city  and  country,  are  very  gay  in 
appearance,  being  painted  or  washed  yellow,  red,  blue, 
green, — sometimes  a  combination  of  colors, — and  having  red 
tile  roofs.  There  is  no  attempt  at  architectural  effects ;  the 
houses  are  similar  in  appearance,  being  usually  one  story  in 
height  for  greater  safety  in  time  of  earthquakes.  The  win- 
dows have  iron  bars  and  wooden  shutters,  and  very  few  have 
glass.  From  the  outside  it  is  often  difficult  to  judge 
whether  the  home  is  one  of  wealth  or  poverty.  The  rooms 
are  built  around  an  open  court,  which  is  often  a  marvel  of 
beauty  with  its  mosaic  floor,  frescoed  walls,  playing  foun- 
tains, and  tropical  luxuriance  of  plants,  flowers  and  foliage. 
There  are  residences  in  Caracas  that,  despite  difl'erences  in 
elegance  and  richness  of  furnishing,  are  equal  to  many  in 
New  York  or  London.  Poor  country  people  have  houses 
made  of  reeds  and  mud,  with  thatched  roofs.  In  the  city 
they  seldom  occupy  a  whole  house,  but  rent  rooms,  a  family 
and  sometimes  two  families,  living  in  one  small  room,  the 
high  price  of  rents  making  this  necessary. 

3.  Interiors. — Large  rooms  are  divided  by  screens,  or 
low  partitions  covered  with  canvas  and  paper ;  so  that  there 
is  little  privacy.  The  canvas  cot  beds  are  often  folded  and 
put  out  of  the  way  during  the  daytime,  while  boxes  serve 
for  seats  and  tables.  The  floors  are  of  soft  red  brick  or 
sometimes  only  the  hardened  earth.  Dirt  is  everywhere  and 
over  everything.  Cooking  is  done  over  charcoal  pots  or 
braziers.  The  food  of  the  poor  consists  of  black  beans, 
lard,  cornmeal,  coffee  and  bananas.  The  climate  of  Caracas 
is  a  perpetual  spring,  never  very  hot  and  never  too  cool  for 
comfort ;  hence  the  fruits  and  vegetables  of  every  climate  are 
to  be  found  there. 

4.  Surroundings. — Saloons  and  rumshops  which  are  very 
numerous,  have  over  them  such  signs  as,  **  The  Fountain  of 

180 


VENEZUELA 

Gladness,"  "Hope  in  God,"  "The  Grace  of  God,"  etc. 
On  street  corners  are  shrines,  crosses  and  images.  The  in- 
fant Jesus  is  seen  in  a  glass  case  in  front  of  churches  and 
in  other  places ;  and  before  it  rest  offerings  of  flowers,  while 
a  contribution  box  is  usually  near  at  hand.  There  are  always 
many  kneeling  worshippers  before  the  shrine  of  San  Antonio, 
in  full  view  of  the  street.  Over  the  front  doors  of  houses 
are  pictures  of  the  Virgin  or  of  saints.  Every  house,  how- 
ever humble,  has  its  shrine,  holy  water  receptacles,  images, 
and  cheap  pictures  of  the  Virgin,  of  Christ  on  the  Cross 
and  of  various  saints.  The  images,  carried  like  dolls,  are 
taken  to  the  churches  to  be  blessed  by  the  priests. 

5.  A  northern  traveller  visiting  Venezuela  said,  "God 
has  done  everything  for  this  country  but  give  it  good  in- 
habitants." With  all  that  nature  has  done  and  with  all  its 
civilization,  there  is  yet  much  to  sadden  and  depress  the 
Christian.  Missionary  work  is  as  much  needed  as  in  truly 
heathen  lands.  Yet  there  are  many  lovely  people  who  seem 
to  lack  only  the  one  thing  needful.  For  nearly  400  years 
Roman  Catholics  have  practically  possessed  the  land ;  but 
they  have  done  little  to  elevate,  educate  and  instruct  the 
people, — scarcely  anything  for  the  heathen  Indians. 

V.  Beginnings  of  Protestant  Efforts. — i.  The /rj/ 
Protestant  work  in  Venezuela,  as  in  many  parts  of  South 
America,  was  done  by  the  American  Bible  Society's  agents. 
In  1876  the  Rev.  J.  de  Palma  was  sent  there  to  survey  the 
ground  and  he  arranged  to  have  Bibles  kept  on  sale  per- 
manently. In  1886  Mr.  Milne  and  Mr.  Penzotti  visited 
Venezuela,  canvassing  thirteen  cities  and  towns,  and  dis- 
posing of  2,660  volumes  of  the  Scriptures.  In  1888  Rev. 
W.  M.  Patterson  was  appointed  agent,  but  he  died  of  yel- 
low fever  the  following  year.  Rev.  J.  Norwood  then  came 
to  Caracas  and  made  it  his  headquarters  for  some  years. 

181 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

A  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  (South),  was  organized,  but 
was  not  of  long  continuance.  Many  volumes  of  Scripture 
have  been  circulated  throughout  Venezuela,  although  not  all 
have  been  allowed  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  purchasers, 
owing  to  the  efforts  of  the  priests  who  have  gathered  up  and 
destroyed  them. 

2.  Etnilio  Silva  Bryant. — No  account  of  the  beginnings 
of  Protestant  work  in  Venezuela  would  be  complete  that  did 
not  speak  of  the  part  this  young  man  shared  in  it.  A  poor 
orphan  boy  in  Spain,  when  thirteen  years  old  Emilio  was 
adopted  by  an  Englishman,  Mr.  Bryant,  who  was  connected 
with  a  railroad  in  that  country.  When  not  more  than  ten 
years  old  Emilio  gave  his  heart  to  the  Lord,  converted 
through  reading  a  Bible  history  given  him  by  a  Scotch  lady. 
He  joined  a  little  company  of  evangelical  Christians  and 
no  threats  or  suffering  or  loss  could  shake  his  faith.  In 
1884,  Mr.  Bryant  came  to  Caracas,  bringing  Emilio,  then 
eighteen  years  of  age.  As  a  Protestant  and  a  Christian  he 
stood  alone  in  that  great  city ;  for  his  adopted  mother,  a  sin- 
cere Christian,  had  not  yet  arrived  from  England.  He  was 
surrounded  by  sin  and  worldliness;  the  Spanish  people 
whom  he  met  were  Roman  Catholics  or  indifferent  to  reli- 
gion ;  there  was  nothing  to  call  his  attention  to  God  and 
salvation,  and  there  was  every  temptation  to  live  as  those 
about  him.  What  could  that  young  man,  feeble  in  body, 
without  means,  with  little  time  at  his  disposal — for  his  days 
were  given  to  manual  labor — do  for  Christ?  He  took  a 
firm  stand  for  the  right ;  he  let  his  light  shine ;  he  sought 
opportunities  to  tell  others  of  his  Savior,  and  God  made 
him  an  instrument  in  His  hands  for  the  salvation  of  souls. 
He  gathered  a  little  company  together,  and  with  closed 
doors  read  and  prayed  and  sang  with  them.  When  his 
mother  came,  she  joined  him  in  this  work.     Friends  in 

182 


VENEZUELA 

England  and  the  United  States  supplied  them  with  evangel- 
ical literature,  which  was  scattered  throughout  the  city. 
There  was  no  ordained  minister  to  baptize  and  receive  to 
the  communion  those  who  accepted  the  truth,  but  there 
were  conversions.  Some  still  living  in  Caracas  are  witnesses 
to  the  success  of  this  one  young  layman,  who  had  no  au- 
thority to  back  him,  no  commission  but  the  Lord's  com- 
mand, no  education  save  in  the  Bible,  but  whose  heart 
was  filled  with  love  to  Christ  and  love  for  souls.  Others 
have  joined  Emilio  in  the  heavenly  mansion ;  for  he  spent 
only  a  few  years  in  Caracas.  Consumption  claimed  him  as 
a  victim,  and  he  went  to  England,  dying  there  in  1890. 
Surely  he  should  be  honored  as  one  of  the  founders  of 
Protestantism  in  Venezuela. 

VI.  Present  Operations. — i.  Presbyterian  Work. — 
Rev.  Manuel  Ferra?idOy  after  leaving  the  Romish  Church, 
went  from  Colombia  to  the  United  States,  where  he  united 
with  the  Presbyterian  Church.  After  two  years  he  came  to 
Caracas  as  an  Evangelical  missionary  under  the  care  of 
Rev.  D.  M.  Stearns'  Bible  classes,  and  was  associated  with 
Rev.  T.  S.  Pond,  who  had  been  transferred  from  the  Pres- 
byterian Mission  of  Colombia  and  arrived  in  Caracas,  Feb- 
ruary, 1897.  Mr.  Ferrando  remained  in  Venezuela  until 
the  fall  of  1898  when  he  began  mission  work  in  Puerto 
Rico,  but  during  his  short  residence  in  Caracas  he  helped 
to  establish  the  Presbyterian  work.  His  eloquent  preaching 
attracted  many  to  the  services,  and  his  able  pen  was  em- 
ployed in  editing  a  religious  and  a  literary  review,  both  of 
which  contained  articles  calculated  to  enlighten  the  people 
in  regard  to  Protestantism,  and  to  expose  the  evils  of  the 
Romish  system. 

In  March,  1897,  preaching  services  were  begun  by  Rev. 
T.  S.  Pond  and  Rev.  M.  Ferrando  in  their  private  house ; 

183 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

in  October,  a  separate  hall  for  the  purpose  was  secured ; 
and  in  February,  1900,  three  years  after  the  occupancy  of 
Caracas  by  the  Presbyterian  Board,  a  church  of  seventeen 
members  was  organized,  to  which  seven  have  since  been 
added.  A  Sunday-school,  society  of  Christian  Endeavor 
and  weekly  meetings  are  maintained,  as  well  as  house  to 
house  visiting,  distribution  of  tracts  and  periodicals.  A 
Protestant  day-school  for  girls  and  small  boys  is  also  con- 
ducted by  the  Misses  Osoona  in  connection  with  the  mis- 
sion. Mr,  and  Mrs.  Pond  are  assisted  by  Rev.  G.  A.  Tavel, 
once  a  Roman  Catholic  missionary,  but  who  now  teaches 
truth  where  once  he  taught  error.  Mr.  Pond  and  Mr. 
Tavel  have  night  classes  for  young  men  and  boys,  teaching 
them  EngUsh,  French,  bookkeeping,  etc.,  the  object  being 
to  attract  and  benefit  them.  Not  a  few  are  thus  drawn  into 
the  meetings,  and  opportunity  is  often  afforded  for  religious 
instruction  to  these  students. 

2.  Christian  and  Missionary  Alliance. — In  February, 
1897,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  G.  A.  Bailley  arrived  in  Caracas,  and 
a  few  months  later  opened  a  hall  for  evangelistic  services. 
Two  young  ladies  of  the  Alliance,  Miss  E.  M.  White  and 
Miss  B.  Lanman,  had  done  much  to  prepare  the  way  by 
their  visiting,  distribution  of  tracts,  cottage  meetings  and 
general  missionary  work  among  the  people.  Miss  White 
and  Miss  Lanman  returned  to  the  United  States  in  the  fall 
of  1897  after  some  two  years  of  service,  and  in  1900,  barely 
three  years  after  Mr.  Bailley's  arrival  in  Caracas,  his  im- 
paired health  obliged  him  to  go  with  his  family  to  the  States 
on  furlough.  The  work  of  the  Alliance  is  kept  up  by  a  na- 
tive helper  under  the  supervision  of  two  devoted  missionary 
ladies.  Miss  A.  C.  Wood  and  Miss  A.  L.  Stone.  They 
teach  in  Sunday-school,  visit  in  the  homes  of  the  people,  and 
hold  meetings  in  the  Lepers'  Home,  where  they  are  eagerly 

184 


VENEZUELA 

welcomed.  Their  helper  has  preached  occasionally  in  the 
city  barracks,  getting  permission  so  to  do  from  the  officers 
in  charge;  he  also  distributes  Christian  literature  among 
the  soldiers. 

A  branch  work  is  carried  on  in  La  Guaira,  where  there 
have  been  a  number  of  conversions.  One  Roman  Catholic 
family  greatly  desired  to  possess  a  Bible,  and  one  was  given 
them.  The  priest,  hearing  of  it,  visited  them  and  demanded 
that  it  be  delivered  to  him.  Very  reluctantly  it  was  placed 
in  his  hands ;  he  took  it  out  in  front  of  the  house,  applied  a 
match  to  the  leaves  and  held  it  till  all  were  partly  consumed, 
when  the  charred  leaves  were  scattered  to  the  winds.  This 
is  not  the  only  instance  of  priests  burning  the  Word  of  God 
in  Venezuela. 

3.  Work  of  the  Brethren. — Rev.  John  Mitchell,  an  Irish- 
man, came  from  the  Barbados  to  Venezuela  in  1895.  He 
has  worked  in  Valencia  and  other  places,  and  has  preached 
in  the  halls  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission  and  of  the  Alliance. 
In  March,  1900,  he  opened  a  hall  in  a  part  of  Caracas, 
where  little  work  had  been  done,  so  that  it  is  practically  a 
new  centre.  Mr.  Mitchell  has  made  several  evangelistic 
tours  through  the  interior  of  the  Repubhc.  He  has  usually 
found  the  people  kind  and  friendly  and  ready  to  receive  his 
books  and  tracts  and  to  enter  into  conversation  on  religious 
subjects.  In  speaking  of  a  visit  to  Maracaibo,  he  says: 
*'I  gave  away  1,000  tracts,  some  Testaments  and  portions 
of  Scripture.  The  inspector  called  me  to  know  what  I  was 
giving.  I  told  him  I  would  gladly  give  him  samples, 
which  I  did.  He  said  it  '  was  all  right  if  they  were  not 
against  religion.'  I  told  him  they  might  be  against  the 
religion  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  He  said,  ^  Well,  if  they 
are  not  against  God,  it  is  all  right.'  " 

Mr.  Mitchell  was  surprised  at  not  finding  the  people  in 
185 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

the  Cordilleras  more  robust  and  healthy.  The  numerous 
cases  of  goitre  among  the  poorer  class,  and  especially  the 
women,  were  grievous.  In  Merida  fully  thirty  per  cent,  of 
the  latter  suffered  from  it.  Idiocy  is  also  very  prevalent, 
several  cases  to  be  seen  in  every  village.  '' Poor  dwarfed 
creatures,  they  move  one  to  compassion."  Of  a  tour  in 
1898,  Mr.  Mitchell  says:  •'!  was  away  nearly  three 
months,  during  which  I  travelled  over  600  miles  and  dis- 
tributed thirty- two  Bibles,  thirty-six  Testaments,  540  Gospels, 
some  Psalms  and  Proverbs,  400  small  books,  and  over  5,000 
tracts.  .  .  .  Once  a  few  stones  were  thrown  at  me, 
but  it  was  only  what  rude  boys  would  do  to  any  stranger. 
A  young  fellow  called  out  after  me,  *I  renounce  you, 
Satan,'  but  as  that  is  not  my  name,  I  did  not  look  back." 

In  Valencia  the  brethren  have  conducted  operations 
since  the  fall  of  1897.  It  is  a  very  fanatical  place,  and  as 
yet  few  have  opened  their  homes  to  the  missionaries.  Rev. 
E.  A.  Thomas,  lately  returning  to  England  on  account  of 
his  own  and  his  wife's  health,  says  of  Valencia;  "We  are 
obliged  to  leave  here  after  two  and  a-half  years  of  sowing 
and  little  reaping.  Most  of  the  time  we  have  had  Don 
Enrique  Inurrigarro  and  his  devoted  wife  with  us  [Spanish 
missionaries  now  in  Puerto  Rico].  Five  have  confessed 
Christ — one  is  asleep,  the  other  four  have  been  baptized  and 
received  to  fellowship.  We  have  distributed  many  Bibles, 
Testaments  and  portions  of  Scripture,  sold  some  at  a  low 
price  and  given  away  thousands  of  tracts  in  all  parts  of  the 
city,  besides  in  some  of  the  villages  and  places  near  here." 
The  work  in  this  city  is  now  carried  on  by  Rev.  J.  R. 
Brown,  a  Scotchman,  who  has  a  hall  for  preaching  services. 
He  has  begun  his  work  with  an  energy  which  has  aroused 
considerable  persecution  and  therefore  interest.  The  out- 
look is  now  more  hopeful  than  it  was. 

186 


VENEZUELA 

4.  South  American  Evangelical  Mission. — Going  from 
Caracas  to  Valencia,  a  distance  of  100  miles,  over  a 
German  railroad,  which  is  a  marvel  of  engineering,  one 
crosses  218  bridges  and  passes  through  eighty-one  tmmels, 
going  up  to  the  very  mountain-tops  and  then  down  to  the 
hot  and  dusty  plain.  A  stop  is  made  at  La  Victoria,  one 
of  the  twenty-five  stations  on  the  road.  Here  is  a  mission 
station  of  the  South  American  Evangelical  Mission,  Toronto, 
Mr.  David  E.  Firstrom  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  S.  Wemiger  being 
the  workers  now  there.  The  missionaries  have  been  gaining 
the  confidence  of  the  people,  attracting  them  by  music,  dis- 
tribution of  tracts,  etc.  It  is  only  within  a  few  months  that 
pubhc  services  have  been  maintained.  During  the  recent 
revolution  there  was  much  fighting  in  the  neighborhood  of 
La  Victoria,  and  the  missionaries  had  a  very  interesting 
work  among  the  soldiers.  In  Ciiidad  Bolivar  is  another 
station  of  this  mission.  Four  or  five  missionaries  are  on 
this  field. 

5.  Indepe7ident  Work.— In  El  Valle,  a  village  not  far 
from  Caracas,  resides  Miss  Grace  B.  Tarbox,  an  inde- 
pendent missionary  worker,  who  visits  and  teaches  the 
people.  Although  physically  a  great  sufferer,  she  has  been 
instrumental  in  the  conversion  of  some  of  those  about  her. 

6.  Character  of  Protestant  Work,  especially  in  Caracas. 
— The  work  is  almost  entirely  among  the  lower  classes,  the 
respectable  poor  people.  Services  are  usually  unmolested, 
unless  it  may  be  by  children  or  drunken  men.  A  police- 
man will  always  attend  and  keep  order  at  the  door  if  re- 
quested to  do  so.  The  congregations,  as  far  as  the  little 
companies  of  Protestants  are  concerned,  are  orderly,  quiet 
and  attentive;  but  there  are  always  many  coming  and 
going  and  standing  about  the  open  doors  and  windows.  It 
is  impossible  to  estimate  the  number  of  those  who  thus  hear 

187 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

the  Word  of  Life.  Some  stand  wholly  outside  at  first,  then 
the  head  is  put  in  the  door,  and  at  last  they  venture  inside, 
but  are  ready  to  run  if  spoken  to  or  invited  to  be  seated. 
Some  become  interested,  return  again  and  again,  and  finally 
take  their  places  with  the  congregation;  but  the  outside 
crowd  is  always  a  changing  one.  At  the  close  of  every 
service,  eager  hands  are  stretched  out  for  papers  and  tracts 
and  thousands  are  thus  given  away.  Homes  are  open  to  the 
workers,  and  many  who  will  not  or  cannot  attend  services 
will  yet  welcome  the  missionaries  and  listen  to  the  message 
they  bring.  The  work  is  therefore  largely  evangelistic  in 
character. 

VII.  Elements  in  the  Future  Contest  Between 
Protestantism  and  Romanism. — i.  Day  of  Small 
Things, — It  will  be  seen  by  comparing  missionary  work  in 
Venezuela  with  that  of  other  lands  that  it  is  still  in  its 
infancy.  It  was  long  before  evangelical  Christians  awoke 
to  its  needs  and  their  responsibility  to  give  to  its  people  the 
pure  gospel  which  had  been  withheld  from  them  by  the 
Romish  Church.  A  young  man  in  the  University  of 
Caracas  confessed  that  he  never  had  read  the  New  Testa- 
ment and  never  would  read  it,  because  he  knew  it  was 
against  the  Church  of  Rome. 

2.  Needs. — As  yet  there  are  no  medical  missionaries,  no 
hospitals  under  Protestant  care,  no  dispensaries,  no  mission 
press,  and  only  a  beginning  in  school  work.  Very  little 
itinerating  has  been  done,  although  the  simple  peons  might 
the  most  easily  be  reached  by  the  gospel  message.  The 
evangelical  forces  on  this  field  are  too  weak  to  emanate 
from  the  powerful  churches  of  the  North,  too  weak  to  rouse 
aught  but  the  contempt  of  the  twin  foes,  Romanism  and 
Indifferentism.  For  some  time  to  come  foreign  teachers 
and  missionaries,  equipped  with  every  appliance  which  God 

i88 


VENEZUELA 

and  nature  and  reason  have  put  into  their  hands,  should  be 
sent  to  break  down  the  inveterate  prejudices  against 
Protestantism.  The  press,  the  school,  the  hospital,  the 
orphanage,  with  all  their  real  and  imposing  and  palpable 
benefits  should  be  multiplied  on  this  field,  just  as  they  are 
employed  in  the  slums  of  cities  of  the  North  and  of 
Europe. 

3.  One  of  the  greatest  hindrances  to  successful  missionary 
work  in  Venezuela  is  the  immorality  of  the  people.  More 
than  one-half  of  the  children  are  illegitimate.  Protestant 
marriage  is  not  legal,  and  marriage  in  general  is  made  so 
expensive  and  so  difficult  that  in  some  cases  it  seems  almost 
impossible.  Many  men  and  women,  convinced  of  the  truth, 
yet  kept  from  confessing  it  because  they  are  living  in  sin, 
will  not  or  cannot  change  their  way  of  life. 

Another  hindrance  is  the  poverty  of  most  of  the  people. 
The  struggle  for  existence  seems  to  take  all  their  thought, 
and  it  is  hard  for  one  who  is  hungry  to  give  heed  to  his 
soul's  need.  Industrial  work  would  be  most  useful.  Mis- 
sionaries should  give  some  temporal  assistance,  and  yet  with 
the  greatest  wisdom  and  discretion,  so  that  they  may  not 
pauperize  the  people.  They  will  thus  help  them  to  help 
themselves,  and  their  teachings  will  be  more  readily  ac- 
ceptable. 

A  third  hindrance  is  iki^ foreigners ^ — Protestants  from 
Protestant  lands  who  bring  no  religion  with  them  to  Vene- 
zuela. Even  church  members  sometimes  conform  to  the 
customs  of  the  country.  These  people  might  be  a  power 
for  good,  were  they  willing  bravely  to  show  their  colors ; 
but — the  aristocracy  are  Roman  Catholics  and  to  join  them- 
selves to  the  humble  Protestant  congregations  would  per- 
haps affect  their  business  prospects.  Some  come  desiring 
freedom  from  all  restraint.     A  young  German  said  to  a  mis- 

189 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Oh,  yes,  at  home  I  go  to  church,  but  here  money 
making  is  my  only  thought. ' '  What  opportunities  of  wit- 
nessing for  Christ  these  people  are  losing  !  Surely  God  will 
call  them  to  account ! 

4.  The  hope  for  Venezuela's  future  is  an  open  Bible,  a 
living,  risen  Christ,  where  now  they  have  only  the  image  of 
the  child  Jesus,  or  a  dead  Christ  hanging  on  the  cross.  The 
only  remedy  for  the  political  disturbances  in  the  Republic, 
and  for  the  revolutions  which  paralyze  all  commercial  inter- 
ests and  bring  such  misery  to  the  homes  of  the  people,  is  the 
gospel  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  Venezuela's  leaders  and 
people. 

VIII.  Points  Common  to  the  Republics  of  Colom- 
bia and  Venezuela — i.  Suminary  Statements. — Colombia 
and  Venezuela  have  much  in  common.  The  climate,  the 
character  of  the  people,  the  language  and  religion  are  very 
similar  in  both  countries,  and  freedom  of  worship  is  sanc- 
tioned in  both  republics.  In  both  there  is  a  great  number 
of  lepers,  greater  in  proportion  to  the  population  than  in 
any  land,  not  excepting  India.  Colombia  alone  is  said  to 
have  28,000  lepers.  There  is  also  a  large  number  of 
maimed  and  diseased  beggars.  Saturday  is  beggars'  day 
and  the  streets  of  cities  are  filled  with  the  lame,  the  palsied, 
the  paralytic  and  the  blind.  Ophthalmia  is  also  common  and 
there  are  many  dwarfs  and  hunchbacks.  Other  points  of 
resemblance  are  the  immorality  of  the  people,  the  marriage 
laws,  the  political  conditions,  and  the  frequent  revolutions. 

2.  Importance  and  Methods  of  their  Conversion. — The 
conversion  of  these  two  republics  near  to  North  America 
is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  it — of  greater  importance, 
perhaps,  than  that  of  countries  at  a  distance.  Business  men 
— young  men — are  going  to  them,  and  there  is  constant 
communication  between  the  sister  continents.     If  the  people 

190 


VENEZUELA 

of  North  America  do  not  help  to  uplift  these  republics  and 
give  them  the  pure  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  they  will  them- 
selves be  drawn  down  and  contaminated  by  their  influence. 
A  Roman  Catholic  lady  said  to  a  missionary :  "I  cannot 
think  that  you  Protestants  are  in  earnest,  that  you  really  be- 
lieve what  you  profess  to.  If  you  did,  surely  you  would 
build  churches  in  these  South  American  cities  and  open 
schools.  [The  Roman  Catholics  understand  that  the  secret 
of  success  is  in  getting  hold  of  the  children.]  Where  one 
missionary  is  sent,  hundreds  would  come."  If  these  lands 
are  to  be  conquered  for  Christ,  there  must  be  an  awakening 
in  North  America.  Men  and  women  must  be  sent, — not  by 
twos  and  threes,  but  in  such  numbers  as  to  make  a  profound 
impression  upon  the  people. 

3.  Kind  of  Candidates  Needed;  Qualifications. — They 
must  be  the  best  that  the  Protestant  churches  can  offer.  It 
is  sometimes  thought  that  any  one  who  has  the  love  of  God 
in  his  heart  and  is  willing  to  go  "will  do  "  for  a  missionary. 
Not  so  ',  Colombia  and  Venezuela  call  for  cultivated,  intel- 
ligent men  and  women,  such  as  would  grace  the  very  best 
society  and  win  respect  in  the  highest  circles  of  foreign  resi- 
dents. Where  people  from  all  nations  are  gathered,  an  ac- 
quaintance with  other  languages  besides  English  and  Spanish 
is  most  useful.  German  in  particular  is  needed,  while  a 
missionary  in  these  countries  has  many  opportunities  for 
using  Italian  and  Arabic.  A  knowledge  of  music  is  im- 
portant, at  least  ability  to  sing.  Spanish  speaking  people 
are  all  fond  of  music  and  singing,  so  that  it  proves  a  help 
and  attracts  the  people.  Domestic  science,  particularly  a 
practical  knowledge  of  cooking,  is  of  great  importance.  In 
short,  no  experience  in  dealing  with  men,  or  in  Christian 
work,  no  knowledge  of  the  most  practical  kind,  no  bit  of 
wisdom  will  come  amiss  in  these  fields.     Practical,  adaptable 

191 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

people  with  tact  are  needed ;  persons  with  good  health  and 
strong  courage,  with  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  and 
a  ready  use  of  Scripture.  Above  all,  they  must  be  conse- 
crated, filled  with  a  desire  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  with  a 
love  that  can  stoop  to  the  very  lowest  and  not  shrink  from 
contact  with  the  most  repulsive  forms  of  bodily  suffering  and 
heinous  sin  ; — men  and  women  who  live  very  near  the  Mas- 
ter and  who  show  forth  His  love  in  their  daily  lives.  Chris- 
tian lives,  more  than  sermons  and  teaching,  will  influence 
these  people.  Those  who  are  expecting  to  be  missionaries  to 
these  republics  would  do  well  to  make  a  special  study  of 
Romanism,  so  as  to  know  what  they  will  have  to  combat. 
The  system  cannot  be  judged  by  what  one  sees  of  it  in 
Protestant  lands  where  Roman  Catholics  are  surrounded  by 
Protestant  influences.  It  is  very  different  where  Romanism 
has  control  of  Government  as  well  as  Church,  and  where  it 
is  seen  in  its  purity  and  in  its  home.  Candidates  should 
also  remember  that  while  there  is  freedom  of  worship,  mis- 
sionaries will  be  annoyed  in  many  ways  and  must  expect 
persecution  for  the  gospel's  sake.  They  will  have  not  only 
Romanism  and  Indifference  to  confront,  but  Atheism,  Spir- 
itualism and  Theosophy  as  well. 

4.  Home  Life  of  the  Missionaries. — It  is  scarcely  possible 
to  overestimate  the  influence  of  the  home  life  of  the  mis- 
sionaries in  these  countries  where  there  are  comparatively 
few  real  homes.  Among  the  lower  classes  many  houses  are 
occupied  by  women  and  children  only.  The  Christian 
home  is  like  a  light  in  a  dark  place,  and  the  lives  of  its 
inmates  are  an  example  to  all  who  enter  it.  Lessons  are 
taught  through  home  life  that  can  be  taught  in  no  other  way, 
and  the  missionary  home  is  ever  open  to  the  people.  There 
they  come  with  their  trials  and  troubles  sure  of  patient  lis- 
teners and  loving  sympathy  and  help.     They  see  the  diifer- 

192 


VENEZUELA 

ence  between  the  missionary  homes  and  their  own,  and  learn 
that  that  difference  is  caused  by  the  open  Bible  and  faithful- 
ness to  Christ.  The  missionary  wife  and  mother,  although 
sometimes  unable  to  do  her  part  of  the  outside  work,  has  yet 
a  sphere  of  usefulness  in  the  home,  and  the  children — even 
the  babies — do  their  part.  The  young  daughter  of  a  mis- 
sionary in  Barranquilla  made  such  a  place  for  herself  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  that  when  the  news  came  to  them  that 
God  had  called  her  from  her  happy,  busy  life  in  a  northern 
boarding-school,  many  wept.  One  old  woman  said :  "Ah 
the  dear  child,  she  was  good  to  me  !  She  never  passed  my 
door  without  a  kind  word  ;  she  had  a  noble  heart."  Many 
spoke  of  the  way  in  which  her  sweet  life  had  influenced 
them,  and  others  told  of  her  asking  them  to  read  the  Bible 
and  pray  daily,  and  to  promise  now  to  do  so. 

5,  A  Macedonia7i  Cry. — The  missionary  with  wife  and 
children,  the  young  woman,  the  young  man  free  from  home 
cares  and  better  able  to  itinerate, — each  and  all  are  needed. 
Each  has  a  special  field  of  work,  each  can  be  used  of  the 
Lord  in  turning  the  people  of  these  lands  from  slavery, 
darkness  and  superstition  to  liberty,  light  and  life.  Let  the 
churches  of  the  United  States,  Canada  and  Great  Britain 
send  their  very  best  candidates  to  Colombia  and  Venezuela, 
and  let  them  not  forget  that  money  is  needed  to  carry  on 
mission  enterprises,  and  that  Venezuela  is  one  of  the  most 
expensive  places  in  the  world  to  live  in,  while  parts  of 
Colombia  are  almost  as  expensive.  Let  them  not  be  satis- 
fied with  sending  men  and  women  and  money,  but  let  them 
hold  up  the  hands  of  the  missionaries  by  their  prayers  and 
love  and  sympathy,  thus  sharing  the  work  with  them  and 
feeling  that  it  is  their  own.  Let  them  send  missionaries 
who  will  devote  themselves  especially  to  work  among  the 
neglected  aborigines  of  the  republics,  the  150,000  Indians 

193 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

in  Colombia  and  326,000  in  Venezuela.  Let  them  remem- 
ber that  the  women  of  these  lands  can  best  be  reached  by 
Christian  women.  House-to-house  visiting,  taking  the  Word 
of  God  to  those  who  will  not  seek  it,  nursing  the  sick,  com- 
forting the  sorrowing,  teaching  in  the  schools  where  many 
influences  may  be  exerted,  holding  women's  meetings, — all 
these  and  other  forms  of  work  can  be  carried  on  by  women, 
married  or  single.  The  women  of  these  republics  appeal 
to  their  sisters  in  more  favored  lands.  Shall  that  appeal  be 
unheeded  ?     *^  Freely  ye  have  received;  freely  give," 


J94 


SOUTH  AMERICA  AS  A  MISSION  FIELD 


SOUTH  AMERICA  AS  A  MISSION  FIELD 
By  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Wood,  LL.  D. 

Lima,  Peru 
For  Thirty-one  Years  a  Missionary  in  South  America 

I.  South  America's  Physical  Development. — South 
America  surpasses  all  other  continents  in  the  following  re- 
spects : 

1.  Proportion  of  Surface  Available  for  Dense  Popula- 
tion.— It  has  no  great  tracts  under  perpetual  snow,  like 
North  America,  Europe  and  Asia ;  nor  any  great  deserts, 
like  those  of  Africa,  Asia  and  Australia.  Some  day,  there- 
fore, its  average  density  of  population  must  be  greater  than 
that  of  any  other  grand  division  of  the  globe. 

2.  Extent  of  Surface ^  now  Sparsely  Populated ^  Avail- 
able for  Immigration. — South  America  has  about  seven 
million  square  miles.  At  least  six  million  are  suitable  for 
immigrants, — double  the  available  territory  of  the  United 
States.  It  has  in  all  about  half  as  many  inhabitants  as  the 
United  States.  Thus  it  is  one-fourth  as  densely  populated 
as  this  country, — about  what  this  country  was  two  genera- 
tions ago.  No  other  tract  of  good  land  exists  that  is  so 
large  and  so  unoccupied  as  South  America. 

3.  Accessibility  to  Immigration. — Its  coasts  are  all  com- 
passed by  steam  navigation,  already  well  developed  and 
second  only  to  that  of  Europe  and  the  United  States  in  their 
most  densely  populated  districts. 

.  197  < 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

The  interior  is  nearly  all  accessible  through  rivers,  the 
greatest  on  earth,  with  navigation  established  for  thousands 
of  miles — the  beginning  of  the  greatest  river-traffic  possible 
anywhere. 

Its  railway  systems,  connecting  the  water  ways  with  every 
part  of  the  territory,  are  well  under  way.  The  pampas  are 
being  covered  by  a  network  like  that  of  the  United  States. 
The  Andes  have  been  crossed  at  three  points, — the  highest 
railway  passes  in  the  world, — one  of  them  having  an  eleva- 
tion of  15,665  feet.  Many  lines  will  cross  the  Andes  in  the 
near  future,  opening  up  vast  and  rich  territories  situated 
near  the  sea,  but  shut  off  from  it  hitherto  by  mountain 
walls.  That  barrier  vanquished  by  modern  railway  progress. 
South  America  stands  as  the  most  accessible  of  all  continents. 
The  Isthmian  canal  and  the  intercontinental  railway  will 
augment  this  preeminence. 

4.  Welcome  Accorded  to  European  Ho7?ie-seekers. — The 
time  was  when  the  United  States  could  boast  of  this  above 
all  other  countries,  and  being  nearer  than  South  America  to 
the  sources  of  European  emigration  it  absorbed  the  streams 
as  fast  as  they  could  come,  and  almost  monopolized  them. 
Now,  however,  its  population  has  become  so  dense  as  to 
offer  resistance  to  the  incoming  tide.  That  resistance  tends 
to  offset  the  difference  in  distance,  and  to  throw  the  balance 
of  advantages  in  favor  of  South  America. 

There,  ten  young  republics  are  absorbing  the  emigration 
as  fast  as  it  can  arrive,  and  are  vying  with  each  other  to  at- 
tract it.  The  United  States  never  offered  such  inducements 
to  foreign  settlers  as  those  countries  are  now  offering.  No 
other  part  of  the  world  is  bidding  so  high  as  South  America 
for  Europe's  surplus  millions. 

5.  Kinskip  with  the  United  States  in  Physical  Conditions 
and  Resources, — The  two   Americas  are  twin  continents, 

198 


SOUTH  AMERICA  AS  A  MISSION  FIELD 

The  Andes  and  the  Rockies  are  parts  of  one  grand  chain  of 
[lighlands.  The  Alleghanies  and  the  Brazilian  ranges  are 
detached  portions  of  one  system.  The  intervening  table- 
lands in  the  two  continents  correspond  exactly. 

South  America  has  the  advantage  of  a  climate  that  makes 
all  parts  of  it  available  and  all  its  coasts  accessible.  Its  low- 
latitudes  are  offset  by  its  great  altitudes,  giving  it,  over  most 
of  its  area,  a  temperate  zone  character  that  is  wholesome 
and  inviting  for  Europeans. 

Their  mineral  and  agricultural  resou7'ces^ — all  their 
facilities  for  developing  human  welfare, — are  practically 
identical. 

6.  Hence  the  Following  Restilts. — (i)  The  streams  of 
emigration  from  Europe  are  now  turning  from  North 
America  to  South  America.  The  first  drift  in  that  direction 
dates  from  about  fifty  years  ago,  a  generation  after  the  liber- 
ation of  those  countries  from  European  rule.  A  steady  flow 
dates  from  about  thirty  years  ago,  and  for  the  last  twenty 
years  it  has  been  a  swelling  inundation  reaching  every  part 
of  the  continent  in  greater  or  less  degree. 

(2)  That  continent,  in  the  near  future,  will  be  the  home 
of  teeming  millions  from  the  densest  parts  of  Europe,  who 
will  assimilate  one  with  another  and  with  the  elements  already 
there,  and  will  develop  a  new  and  mighty  people,  precisely 
as  has  happened  in  the  United  States.  This  process  is  al- 
ready advancing  in  the  southeastern  countries,  where  the  im- 
migration is  most  voluminous,  in  a  way  that  demonstrates 
the  certainty  of  bringing  the  whole  continent  under  its 
sweep. 

(3)  This  movement  will  progress  more  rapidly  there  than 
it  has  elsewhere,  and  on  a  scale  unknown  in  history.  The 
European  influx  into  the  United  States  never  reached  two 
per  cent,  of  the  population,  in  any  year,  and  never  averaged 

199 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

even  one  per  cent,  through  any  decade.  It  has  averaged 
two  per  cent,  per  annum  for  the  last  twenty-five  years  in  the 
southeastern  countries  of  South  America.  Steam  and  elec- 
tricity have  shortened  distances.  Europe  is  more  populous 
than  ever.  South  America  is  nearly  twice  as  large  as 
Europe,  and  invites  the  immigrants  not  only  to  its  eastern 
shores,  but  everywhere.  The  twentieth  century  will  witness 
there  a  movement  of  migrant  humanity  of  which  the  nine- 
teenth century  movement  to  North  America  will  prove  to 
have  been  but  the  beginning. 

(4)  //  will  stand  in  history  as  the  youngest ^  the  vastest 
and  the  densest  of  all  the  transplantings  of  European 
humanity  to  virgin  soil.  After  the  two  Americas  and 
Australia  are  developed,  there  will  be  no  territory  left  to  re- 
peat the  operation.  European  elements  may  engraft  them- 
selves on  other  stocks  in  many  lands,  but  to  develop  them 
from  their  own  roots  on  new  ground  over  a  vast  area  will 
never  be  possible  again,  unless  another  continent  should 
arise  out  of  the  sea.     [What  of  Africa  ?] 

To  evangelize  this  new  development  of  the  highest  types 
of  mankind  is  the  work  of  missions  in  South  America. 

II.  South  America's  Moral  Development. — South 
America  excels  every  other  grand  division  of  the  globe  in 
the  following  particulars : 

I.  Moral  Homogeneity  in  All  Its  Parts. — It  has  two 
dominant  languages,  but  they  are  so  closely  related  that  they 
seem  merely  dialects  of  one.  It  has  ten  nations ;  but  their 
frontiers  are  crossed  by  currents  of  thought  and  feeling,  and  by 
movements  of  immigration  as  freely  as  by  the  rivers  and  the 
winds.  The  uprising  for  independence  swept  the  entire  length 
of  the  continent  in  the  space  of  a  few  weeks.  Important  move- 
ments in  any  part  agitate  the  whole.  Everywhere  the  Latin 
civilization  and  culture  are  dominant,  as  are  the  Roman 

200 


SOUTH  AMERICA  AS  A  MISSION  FIELD 

Catholic  religion  and  North  American  republican  govern- 
ment and  free  institutions.  No  other  territory  so  vast  has 
such  uniformity  of  moral  conditions. 

2.  Feeling  of  Close  Ki?iship  among  All  Its  Nations. — 
They  all  have  the  same  historic  traditions,  the  same  political 
and  social  aspirations,  the  same  peculiar  tendencies,  and, 
withal,  a  consciousness  that  they  form  a  family  of  nations 
whose  interests  are  common  and  whose  destiny  is  one.  No 
other  portion  of  the  world  presents  this  peculiarity  on  so  vast 
a  scale. 

And  this  has  come  to  pass,  not  as  in  the  United  States, 
where  a  single  dominant  sovereignty  has  molded  many  new 
states  on  the  model  of  a  few  old  ones,  all  in  gradual  succes- 
sion, but  rather  despite  segregation,  disunion  and  conflict, 
among  many  sovereignties  springing  into  existence  all  over 
the  continent  at  about  the  same  time,  with  no  bond  to 
unite  them.  It  is  the  result  of  a  mysterious  providential 
tendency,  innate  in  those  peoples,  binding  them  together  for 
good. 

3.  An  All-prevailing  Aspiration  to  Imitate  the  United 
States. — Those  ten  nations  have  copied  our  constitutions, 
our  laws,  our  political  methods ;  they  have  introduced  our 
school  systems,  and  imported  teachers  from  here  to  work 
them;  they  have  made  a  study  of  our  whole  '^  mode  of  ex- 
istence," as  they  call  it,  on  purpose  to  seek  to  reproduce  it 
among  themselves.  This  is  without  parallel  elsewhere ;  and 
when  we  take  into  account  the  barriers  of  language,  religion 
and  race  prejudice  that  separate  them  from  us,  their  inclina- 
tion to  imitate  the  United  States — profound  and  all-prevail 
ing  as  it  is — stands  unmatched  in  history. 

Alas,  that  unlike  the  United  States,  they  have  neither  the 
gospel,  nor  the  moral  power  that  goes  with  it.  As  a  result 
of  this,  their  efforts  to  imitate  our  *'mode  of  existence" 

201 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

have  thus  far  failed, — everywhere  and  always  failed, — with 
not  a  single  success  in  any  nation  or  province  to  stand  as  a 
happy  exception.  But  despite  the  discouragement  of  such 
universal  failure  to  reach  our  moral  results,  their  mysterious 
aspiration  to  do  so  continues  undiminished.  It  seems  like  a 
divine  inspiration  working  in  the  minds  of  those  peoples, 
preparing  them  to  receive  from  us  the  one  thing  needful, 
and  then  through  it  to  enter  into  our  inheritance  of  moral 
blessings. 

4.  Freedom  from  Old  World  Domination. — In  North 
America  Canada  is  under  European  sovereignty ;  so,  too,  is 
Australia.  But  South  America  is  almost  wholly  free.  Only  the 
Guianas, — three  small  colonies, — and  the  Falkland  Islands 
remain  subject  to  foreign  powers.  Nowhere  else  has  the 
New  World  aspiration  for  independence  so  widely  prevailed. 
South  America  is  the  freest  of  all  the  grand  divisions  of  the 
globe. 

Unfortunately  her  freedom  is  vitiated  by  the  lack  of 
moral  power  among  the  masses  of  the  people ;  so  that  they 
find  adequate  self-government  impracticable,  and  their  inde- 
pendence often  seems  to  be  a  curse  rather  than  a  blessing. 
But  despite  this,  the  love  of  freedom  is  all-pervading,  ex- 
actly as  in  the  United  States. 

5.  Hence:  (i)  South  America  is  the  largest  field  in  the 
world  for  sweeping  moral  movements  in  the  near  future. 
Examples  of  such  movements  in  the  past  are  the  uprising 
for  independence,  the  predominance  of  republicanism,  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  the  spread  of  free  schools,  the  growth 
of  the  power  of  the  press,  and  the  extension  of  Masonry, 
Odd  Fellowship,  and  the  like.  In  the  future  will  come  re- 
ligious revivals,  sweeping  the  whole  continent  and  changing 
the  moral  character  of  the  people. 

The  multiplicity  of  free  sovereignties  facilitates  the  start- 


SOUTH  AMERICA  AS  A  MISSION  FIELD 

ing  of  a  new  movement  which  may  find  the  ground  unten- 
able at  some  points,  but  easy  to  hold  at  others.  The  homo- 
geneity of  the  mass  facilitates  extending  a  movement  when 
once  started  on  good  vantage  ground.  The  kinship  of  the 
several  peoples  aids  a  well  advanced  movement  to  become 
universal.  The  vastness  of  the  field  uniting  these  conditions 
makes  it  stand  without  a  parallel. 

(2)  //  is,  perhaps,  the  grandest  jfie Id  for  expanding  the 
moral  developments  peculiar  to  the  United  States.  The 
founding  of  the  United  States  was  followed  by  an  outburst 
of  republicanism  in  Europe,  but  in  only  one  country, 
France.  It  was  followed  in  South  America  by  the  founding 
of  ten  republics,  thirty  times  larger  than  France.  North 
American  influences  everywhere  else  meet  resistance  in 
tendencies  from  which  South  America  is  free.  And  in  its 
freedom  South  America  is  eager  to  accept  those  influences 
as  conducive  to  its  highest  aspirations.  Alas,  for  the  great 
moral  drawbacks  that  interfere  as  yet,  and  will  continue  to 
interfere  till  overcome  by  the  moral  power  that  accompanies 
the  gospel ! 

(3)  //  must  one  day  stand  as  the  largest  half  of  God's 
New  World  of  human  welfare.  All  the  world  is  now  watch- 
ing with  interest  the  development  of  this  country  and  peo- 
ple, in  ways  and  degrees  impossible  for  the  Old  World  and 
peculiar  to  the  New.  They  will  one  day  admire  yet  more 
this  same  development  grown  vastly  wider  and  more  glorious 
by  its  extension  over  all  America. 

To  make  this  result  possible  and  hasten  its  consummation 
is  the  work  of  missions  in  South  America. 

III.  South  America's  Moral  Drawbacks.— South 
America  suffers,  beyond  all  other  lands,  from  the  following 
drawbacks  to  moral  improvement : 

I,  rriestcraft.— This  was  forced  upon  U  at  the  point  of 
203 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

the  sword  and  maintained  by  the  fires  of  the  Inquisition,  with 
no  Protestantism  to  protest  against  it  nearer  than  the  other 
side  of  the  world.  In  recent  years  a  woman  was  burned 
alive  by  a  priest  in  the  republic  of  Peru,  and  two  others 
have  since  been  threatened  with  the  same  fate  by  another 
priest.  Only  a  few  years  ago  a  missionary,  Rev.  Justus  H. 
Nelson,  completed  a  term  of  imprisonment  in  Brazil  for 
writing  against  sacerdotal  abuses.  On  the  west  coast  the 
gospel  workers  have  suffered  many  arrests,  one  of  which  kept 
Rev.  Francisco  Penzotti  in  prison  over  eight  months,  while 
a  false  accusation  against  him  was  dragged  through  all 
grades  of  tribunals,  including  the  national  supreme  court. 
The  present  consul-general  of  Ecuador  in  New  York,  Sefior 
Felicisimo  Lopez,  was  formerly  a  member  of  the  senate  of 
his  country,  and  was  expelled  from  that  body  by  a  reso- 
lution based  on  the  ground  that  he  had  been  excommuni- 
cated by  a  bishop.  Prelates  and  priests,  monks  and  nuns 
exert  an  influence  that  is  all-pervading.  The  ethics  of 
Jesuitism  dominate  and  vitiate  every  sphere  of  human 
activity  in  South  America.  Abominations  of  every  sort  are 
sanctified  in  the  name  of  Christ. 

The  priesthood  as  a  class  is  like  the  old  Jewish  priesthood 
in  holding  the  Truth  of  God  '^in  unrighteousness,"  and  in 
making  the  Divine  Word  "of  none  effect"  by  human  tra- 
ditions. It  deserves  all  the  curses  that  Christ  heaped  upon 
the  priestcraft  of  His  time,  with  new  chapters  still  more 
scathing  for  the  new  abominations  of  the  confession  box, 
pretended  infallibility,  enforced  celibacy,  the  prohibition  of 
the  Word  of  God,  and  the  ancient  abomination  of  image- 
worship,  from  all  of  which  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  were 
free.  Were  it  not  for  this  drawback,  reformatory  move- 
ments in  church  and  state  and  all  society  would  be  swift  and 
sweeping,  regenerating  the  South  American  peoples.     With 

204 


SOUTH  AMERICA  AS  A  MISSION  FIELD 

this  drawback,  such  movements  are  impossible,  save  as  they 
are  forced  in  from  without. 

^  Lest  the  above  statements  may  appear  bigoted,  the  words 
of  an  Encyclical  Letter  of  Pope  Leo  to  the  clergy  of  Chile, 
issued  in  1897,  are  adduced  :  '*In  every  diocese  ecclesias- 
tics break  all  bounds  and  deliver  themselves  up  to  manifold 
forms  of  sensuality,  and  no  voice  is  lifted  up  to  imperiously 
summon  pastors  to  their  duties.  The  clerical  press  casts 
aside  all  sense  of  decency  and  loyalty  in  its  attacks  on  those 
who  differ,  and  lacks  controlling  authority  to  bring  it  to  its 
proper  use.  There  is  assassination  and  calumny,  the  civil 
laws  are  defied,  bread  is  denied  to  the  enemies  of  the  Church, 
and  there  is  no  one  to  interpose.  .  .  .  It  is  sad  to  re- 
flect that  prelates,  priests  and  other  clergy  are  never  to  be 
found  doing  service  among  the  poor ;  they  are  never  in  the 
hospital  or  lazar  house ;  never  in  the  orphan  asylum  or  hos- 
pice, in  the  dwellings  of  the  afflicted  or  distressed,  or  en- 
gaged in  works  of  beneficence,  aiding  primary  instruction, 
or  found  in  refuges  or  prisons.  ...  As  a  rule  they  are 
ever  absent  where  human  misery  exists,  unless  paid  as  chap- 
lains or  a  fee  is  given.  On  the  other  hand,  you  (the  clergy) 
are  always  to  be  found  in  the  houses  of  the  rich,  or  wher- 
ever gluttony  may  be  indulged  in,  wherever  the  choicest 
wines  may  be  freely  obtained." 

2.  Swordcraft, — Armed  revolutions  are  inseparable  from 
the  politics  of  those  republics.  All  ten  of  them  have  been 
torn  with  civil  war  in  the  last  ten  years, — some  of  them  more 
than  once.  Taking  the  continent  at  large,  it  is  never  free 
from  such  wars,  often  having  two  or  three  going  on  at  the  same 
time.  They  began  amid  the  struggles  for  independence 
from  European  domination,  and  have  never  ceased, — and 
never  will  cease  till  the  masses  of  the  people  are  evangelized. 
» This  paragraph  is  inserted  by  the  Editor. 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

International  wars  have  been  few,  but  destructive  and 
baneful.  Occurring  between  peoples  who  are  so  closely  akin, 
they  have  partaken  of  the  character  of  civil  wars. 

Priestcraft  has  a  hand  in  all  the  armed  strife,  often 
directly  fomenting  it,  and  almost  always  managing  to 
profit  by  it.  A  far-reaching  motive  impels  to  this,  in  that 
whatever  weakens  the  civil  sovereignty  strengthens  relatively 
the  ecclesiastical  predominancy. 

South  America  is  the  most  colossal  example  that  ever  was 
of  religious  unity,  and  the  most  striking  example  of  bloody 
discord.  Military  conspiracies  and  ecclesiastical  conspira- 
cies combine  to  keep  politics  in  confusion  and  make  im- 
possible the  progress  after  which  those  peoples  aspire. 

3 .  Peculiar  Forms  of  Demoralization .  — Inseparable  from 
these  two  evils,  and  making  a  combination  of  moral  drawbacks 
elsewhere  unknown,  are  the  following :  Civil  wars  fill 
society  with  feuds,  rancor  and  aspirations  for  revenge.  They 
foment  tendencies  to  violence  and  outrage,  which  run  on 
through  times  of  peace,  and  make  appeals  to  might  instead 
of  right,  seem  normal  in  every  sphere  of  life. 

Patriotism  is  perverted  and  paralyzed  by  them.  It  is 
further  vitiated  by  Jesuitism,  which  puts  virtue  into  false- 
hood and  blasts  moral  consistency,  even  in  noble  characters. 
Private  conscience,  atrophied  by  an  infaUible  priesthood, 
and  by  alienation  from  God,  loses  its  power  to  guide  the 
will,  and  public  conscience  made  up  of  such  private  con- 
sciences is  powerless  to  control  public  affairs. 

Peace,  without  patriotism  or  public  conscience,  develops 
despotistn  or  lapses  into  anarchy.  Anarchy  has  no  remedy  but 
usurpation  and  despotism.  Despotism  provokes  revolution 
and  justifies  violence  and  disorder.  Peace  supervenes  through 
weariness  of  disorder,  but  without  reviving  patriotism  or  pub- 
lic conscience.     Thus  the  dreary  round  repeats  itself. 

2Q6 


SOUTH  AMERICA  AS  A  MISSION  FIELD 

The  dominant  priestcraft  submerges  in  servility  those 
who  submit  to  it  and  drives  to  unbelief  those  who  revolt 
against  it.  Servility  and  unbelief  alike  tend  to  moral  weak- 
ness, and  thereby  facilitate  the  dominancy  of  the  priestcraft, 
which  thus  perpetuates  its  control  over  believers  and  un- 
believers alike.  Each  new  generation  is  gripped  by  heredity 
and  environment,  and  compelled  to  repeat  the  experiences 
of  its  predecessors.     Thus  another  dreary  circuit  closes. 

4.  Failure  of  Supposed  Re7nedies  for  the  Moral  Draw- 
backs.— The  hopelessness  of  this  situation  is  appalling. 
Noble  efforts  to  remedy  it  have  been  made  by  the  best 
minds  and  hearts  of  those  countries,  but  in  vain. 

Good  constitutions  have  failed.  Those  of  Brazil  and 
the  Argentine  Republic  are  second  to  none  in  the  world, 
being  improvements  on  the  federal  constitution  of  the  United 
States.  That  of  Peru,  modeled  on  our  state  constitutions, 
merited  the  praise  of  Gladstone.  But  these  cannot  stop  the 
waste  of  blood  and  treasure,  much  less  the  general  demorali- 
zation, the  prostitution  of  patriotism,  or  the  insidious  domi- 
nancy of  priestcraft. 

Good  laws  have  failed.  They  cannot  impart  the  moral 
power  which  is  lacking  to  carry  them  out.  Good  schools 
have  failed.  They  cannot  make  their  scholars  able  to  do 
as  well  as  they  know.  Railroads,  steamboats,  telegraphs, 
telephones,  electric  lights,  and  other  inventioiis  have  all 
failed.  Not  a  soul  has  been  regenerated  by  them.  They 
happen  to  abound  most  where  wars  have  raged  worst  in  the 
last  decade. 

Immigration  has  failed.  The  children  of  the  immigrants 
grow  up  as  natives  in  the  atmosphere  that  makes  the  natives 
what  they  are,  and  their  condition  remains  hopeless. 

All  these  good  things  will  help  in  the  grand  transformation 
that  is  to  come  with  the  evangelizing  of  the  masses.     They 

207 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

are  helping  already  wherever  the  gospel  is  being  strongly 
pushed  in.  But  without  the  one  thing  needful  they  have 
no  uplifting  power.  They  present  in  South  America  a 
combination  of  failures  so  unique,  and  on  so  vast  a  scale,  as 
to  stand  without  a  parallel. 

5.  Exclusion  of  the  One  Thing  Need/ id. — South  America 
is  a  pagan  field,  properly  speaking.  Its  image -worship  is 
idolatry ;  its  invocation  of  saints  is  practical  polytheism. 
And  these  abominations  are  grosser  and  more  universal 
there  than  among  Roman  Catholics  in  Europe  and  the 
United  States,  where  Protestantism  has  greatly  modified 
Catholicism.  The  religion  of  the  masses  all  over  the  con- 
tinent alienates  them  from  God  exactly  as  in  ancient  and 
modern  heathenism. 

But  it  is  worse  off  than  any  other  great  pagan  field,  in 
that  it  is  dominated  by  a  single  mighty  hierarchy, — the 
mightiest  known  in  history, — which  augments  its  might  by 
monopolizing  the  gospel,  not  in  order  to  evangelize  the 
masses,  but  to  dominate  them,  and  to  make  their  evangeli- 
zation impossible.  For  centuries  priestcraft  has  had  every- 
thing its  own  way  all  over  the  continent,  and  is  now  at  last 
yielding  to  outside  pressure,  but  with  desperate  resistance. 

Withal  there  is  a  mysterious  slowness  in  evangelical 
Christendom  to  bring  pressure  on  South  America.  It  has 
come  to  be  called  "The  Neglected  Continent,"  among 
British  missionary  writers.  While  needing  the  most  ener- 
getic activities  of  Protestant  missionary  enterprise,  it  has 
been  strangely  deprived  of  them.  This  seems  due  to  lack 
of  knowledge  of  its  moral  conditions.  Thus  her  cries  for 
help  meet  with  antipathy  where  they  ought  to  find  sym- 
pathy, and  the  one  thing  needful  is  kept  from  her. 

K  the  dominant  priesthood  could  be  reformed  from  within, 
then  a  mighty  reformation  would  follow,  and  South  America 

20S 


SOUTH  AMERICA  AS  A  MISSION  FIELD 

would  evangelize  herself ;  but  that  is  hopeless  under  present 
conditions.  Since  the  days  of  Wyclif,  Luther,  and  Calvin, 
the  discipline  of  Romanism  has  been  so  modified  as  to  make 
impossible  a  repetition  of  movements  like  theirs.  Priests 
have  been  converted  in  South  America,  and  have  done  their 
best  to  exert  a  reformatory  influence,  but  with  insignificant 
effect.  A  talented  English  priest.  Father  Kenelm  Vaughan, 
went  through  all  those  countries  repeatedly  some  years  ago, 
and  awakened  an  enthusiasm  for  a  reform  in  and  through 
the  clergy,  having  printed  for  that  purpose  a  special  edition 
of  the  New  Testament  in  Spanish ;  but  it  all  came  to  noth- 
ing, save  to  show  how  irreformable  the  whole  system  has 
become. 

6.  Hence:  (i)  The  regeneration  of  South  America  can- 
not arise  fro7n  within,  hit  ?nust  be  introduced  by  propaganda 
from  without,  and  it  calls  for  the  most  energetic  action 
known  to  modern  missionary  enterprise. 

(2)  South  America  lies  to-day  at  the  bottom  of  the  scale 
of  nominal  Christe?idom,  with  her  gaze  fixed  wistfully  on 
the  top  of  that  scale,  lamenting  her  vain  attempts  to  reach 
these  heights  sublime,  all  wearied  and  bruised  and  bleeding 
with  her  struggles  to  find  the  way  of  progress,  and  calling 
on  all  Christendom  to  give  her  a  guiding  and  uplifting  hand. 

(3)  The  moral  scale  of  Christendom,  as  seen  to-day,  with 
Catholic  South  America  at  the  bottom  and  Protestant  North 
America  far  aloft, — the  one  incapable  of  rising  even  by 
imitation  of  the  other,  ever  stumbling  and  slipping  and  fall- 
ing back  in  the  attempt,  while  the  other  is  ever  mounting 
higher  by  an  uplifting  and  guiding  power  from  within, — dis- 
plays to  the  world  in  the  two  continents  a  most  significant 
object  lesson,  showing  the  tendencies  of  Romanism  and 
Protestantism,  and  their  effects  on  human  well-being. 

(4)  The  greatest  of  all  battlefields  between  Romanism 

209 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

and  Evangelism  will  probably  be  in  South  America,  and  the 

Great  Reformation  will  achieve  there  far-reaching  triumphs. 

IV.  North  America  to  the  Rescue. — South  America 

stands  in  the  following  peculiar  relations  to  Protestant  lands  : 

1.  It  is  situated  nearest  to  North  America  of  all  great 
mission  fields,  but  is  more  remote  from  Europe  than  are 
many  others.  The  two  Americas,  isolated  from  the  rest  of 
the  world,  and  joined  one  to  another,  have  a  manifest  respon- 
sibility each  for  the  other.  The  people  of  the  United  States 
have  not  yet  awakened  to  this  great  fact.  South  America  is 
less  to  them  than  is  almost  any  other  country.  This  ought 
not  so  to  be.  Oh,  for  another  Columbus  to  rediscover 
South  America,  and  reveal  her  to  the  North  American  people 
in  her  providential  relations  to  them  ! 

2.  //  welcomes  influences  from  the  United  States  as  from 
no  other  field,  while  it  is  freer  from  European  influences 
than  almost  any  other,  especially  those  where  European 
sovereignty  is  extending.  This  fact  is  remarkable  when  we 
remember  that  Europeans  abound  in  South  America,  while 
North  Americans  are  few  and  far  between.  It  is  one  of  the 
signs  of  the  times  that  superhuman  power  is  working  on  those 
masses  of  humanity,  preparing  them  for  their  moral  regen- 
eration in  kinship  with  the  United  States. 

3.  North  American  churches  have  commenced  operations 
at  strategic  points,  tending  to  evangelize  the  whole  conti- 
nent. European  churches  are  largely  leaving  that  continent 
alone.  The  latter  scarcely  look  after  their  own  members 
that  are  emigrating  thither,  and  do  almost  nothing  for  the 
priest-ridden  masses.  They  find  enough  to  do  in  their  own 
hemisphere,  and  are  leaving  America  to  Americans.  Oh, 
that  the  American  churches  would  open  their  eyes  to  the 
singular  duty  and  opportunity  that  God  has  reserved  for 
them  in  their  own  hemisphere  ! 

210 


SOUTH  AMERICA  AS  A  MISSION  FIELD 

4.  Gospel  work  in  South  America  is  a  success,  singularly 
encouraging,  destined  to  do  in  the  future  for  those  ten  re- 
publics what  progressive  evangelization  has  done  and  is  doing 
for  the  United  States.  The  operations  include  every  form 
of  activity  usual  in  this  country.  They  present  there  the 
peculiarity  of  requiring  powerful  outside  help  for  getting 
them  started,  in  order  to  overcome  the  resistance  of  the 
singular  drawbacks  which  characterize  that  field,  unknown 
here,  or  anywhere  else.  But,  once  well  begun,  the  work 
develops  there  a  tendency  to  self-support  and  self-extension 
which  is  not  approached  by  any  other  field  outside  Protest- 
ant lands. 

The  pioneering  has  been  done,  all  over  the  continent, 
mainly  by  the  American  Bible  Society,  whose  work  in  the 
two  Americas  makes  it  the  first  and  noblest  of  societies. 

The  signs  of  the  times  point  to  the  coming  of  great 
sweeping  revivals.  All  the  work  thus  far  is  providentially 
preparatory  to  them.  And  when  they  once  get  started 
among  those  impulsive  peoples,  the  mighty  changes  that 
will  follow  fast  and  far,  throughout  that  immense  homoge- 
neous territory,  promise  to  surpass  anything  of  the  kind 
hitherto  known. 

5.  Hence  .•  (i)  South  America  offers  a  most  excellent  op- 
portunity for  North  American  evangelism  to  extend  its 
domain  without  competition,  and  work  out  results  on  the 
widest  possible  scale.  South  America  calls  on  North 
American  Christians,  as  a  most  imperative  Macedonian, 
"  Come  over  and  help  us." 

(2)  To  preempt  this  largest  half  of  our  own  hemisphere 
in  the  name  of  God  and  human  welfare  ;  to  transform  this 
wilderness  of  priestcraft  and  swordcraft,  and  bring  it  to  the 
glorious  possibilities  of  Christian  development ;  to  give  the 
saving  truth  to  the  millions  already  there  and  to  the  multi- 

2x1 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

plied  millions  that  are  coming : — such  is  the  mission  now 
before  the  churches  in  our  great  southern  twin-continent. 

V.  Reflex  Influences  from  South  America. — i.  On 
Catholic  Europe. — The  streams  of  immigration  from  Eu- 
rope to  South  America  are  conductors  of  reflex  influence 
promising  great  things  for  the  future.  The  following  con- 
densed statements  throw  light  on  this  most  interesting  mat- 
ter. 

(i)  Roman  Catholic  immigrants  in  South  America  are 
less  subject  to  the  priestcraft  there  than  are  the  native 
Catholic  masses. 

(2)  All  immigrants  are  less  involved  in  politics ^  and  in  the 
swordcraft  inseparable  from  politics  there,  than  are  the  na- 
tives. Thus  the  great  moral  drawbacks  peculiar  to  that 
continent  have  their  minimum  eff"ect  on  foreigners. 

(3)  The  gospel  work  there  among  the  incoming  European 
Catholics  and  their  children  is  peculiarly  encouraging.  Of 
the  gospel  workers  raised  up  there,  some  of  the  most  pre- 
cious are  of  this  class. 

(4)  The  work  among  them  is  peculiarly  urgent,  as  the 
descendants  of  foreigners  become  like  the  natives  and  lose 
their  advantage.  Sad  but  common  it  is  to  find  the  children 
of  English  parents  unable  to  use  the  English  language,  des- 
titute of  English  love  of  truth  and  fair  play,  ignorant  of  the 
Scriptures,  bereft  of  moral  consistency,  having  lost  in  one 
generation  the  advantages  of  the  centuries  of  moral  progress 
of  their  ancestors. 

(5)  Immigrants  converted  in  South  America  often  trans- 
mit the  new  leaven  to  their  old  homes.  Whole  communi- 
ties in  Spain  and  Italy  have  been  stirred  up  with  gospel  in- 
fluence from  these,  in  this  way, — a  form  of  reflex  action 
that  must  go  on  with  ever  increasing  volume. 

(6)  Catholic  immigrants  in  South  America  are  easier  to 

212 


SOUTH  AMERICA  AS  A  MISSION  FIELD 

evangelize  there  than  they  would  have  been  in  their  Euro- 
pean homes.  The  indirect  influence  of  their  conversion 
often  helps  make  easier  the  evangelization  of  their  old 
neighbors  even  where  no  direct  action  takes  place. 

Thus  missions  in  South  America  are  destined  to  facilitate 
more  and  more  the  evangelization  of  Catholic  Europe,  and 
to  be  facilitated  in  turn  by  it. 

2.  On  the  Latin  Race. — Evangelism  all  over  Europe  has 
been  energized  by  reflex  action  from  the  United  States- 
The  analogous  action  from  South  America  in  future  involves 
certain  special  relationships  that  deserve  special  study. 

(i)  The  influence  from  Saxon  America  has  shown  itself 
chiefly  in  Saxon  Europe.  That  of  Latin  America  will  be 
most  notable  in  Latin  Europe. 

(2)  The  gx^dX  future  of  Latin  humanity  is  to  be  in  Latin 
America, — many  times  larger  than  Latin  Europe, — nearly 
twice  as  large  as  all  Europe — equal  to  Europe  and  the 
United  States  together, — or  to  twice  India  and  China  proper. 

(3)  The  work  of  evangelizi?ig  that  whole  type  of  man- 
kind, in  both  Europe  and  America,  is  one  great  enterprise, 
whose  reflex  influences  both  inwardly  among  its  various  ele- 
ments, and  outwardly  toward  all  Christendom,  will  be  of 
ever  augmenting  importance. 

(4)  The  Latin  race,  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  re- 
jected the  gospel.  Then  God  rejected  it  from  its  former 
preeminence  among  the  kindreds  of  men,  and  raised  up  to 
take  its  place  a  lineage  descended  from  northern  barbarians, 
whom  He  first  evangelized,  and  then  energized  and  multi- 
plied, and  blessed  above  all  other  lineages,  arming  them  with 
steel  and  steam  and  lightning,  and  setting  them  forth  to 
be  the  vanguard  of  all  mankind.  But  God  is  now  giving  to 
the  Latin  race  a  new  opportunity  to  accept  the  gospel,  and 
to  recover  its  birthright. 

21^ 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

(5)  Once  regenerated  by  the  gospel,  the  Latm  peoples 
will  rise  speedily  to  the  level  of  those  that  are  now  highest 
above  them.  This  regenerated  Latin  race,  with  the  largest 
half  of  the  New  World  for  its  patrimony,  besides  its  ancient 
home  in  Europe,  is  destined  to  have  a  great  and  noble  share 
in  future  history. 

(6)  With  the  progressive  evangelization  of  both  Amer- 
icas, there  will  be  developed  a  reflex  action  between  the 
two.  The  Saxon  type  will  excel  in  some  things  and  the 
Latin  in  others,  while  each  will  derive  from  the  other  new 
impulses  to  go  on  unto  perfection. 

(7)  The  most  influential  of  Pan-American  institutions  are 
to  be  the  churches.  These,  already  enlisted  in  the  work  of 
universal  evangelization^  will  one  day  place  the  two  Amer- 
icas side  by  side  in  the  march  of  moral  progress  in  the 
whole  world. 

3.  On  the  Americo- European  Family. — Certain  ethnic 
features  of  the  Americas  deserve  further  attention. 

(i)  The  Asiatic  population  in  South  America  is  insignifi- 
cant in  numbers,  and  shows  no  tendency  to  increase.  Ex- 
clusion laws  against  it  are  in  force  in  some  of  the  republics. 

(2)  The  African  population  in  South  America  is  far  less 
than  in  North  America, — less  in  actual  numbers  and  less  in 
proportion  to  the  whole, — and  shows  still  less  increase,  with 
no  outside  influx.  There  are  exclusion  laws  against  this  in 
some  places. 

(3)  The  vast  unoccupied  parts  of  the  continent  are  filling 
up  with  Europeans,  and  with  them  only.  South  America 
has  now,  and  is  destined  to  have  in  the  future,  a  population 
averaging  more  purely  European  than  any  other  continent 
except  Europe  itself.     This  deserves  special  attention. 

(4)  The  two  Americas  and  Europe  are  the  three  homes  of 
European  humanity ,  with  the  Atlantic  to  facilitate  quick  and 

214 


SOUTH  AMERICA  AS  A  MISSION  FIELD 

cheap  transit  between  them.  Already  the  European  traffic 
of  South  America  exceeds  that  of  the  United  States  of  two 
decades  ago,  and  far  exceeds  the  present  traffic  between  the 
two  Americas,  though  the  latter  is  rapidly  gaining. 

(5)  The  play  of  moral  influeiices  between  these  three 
homes  of  the  highest  types  of  humanity,  grouped  con- 
veniently about  the  smaller  of  the  two  great  oceans,  will 
develop  a  unity  and  homogeneity  embracing  them  all,  thus 
augmenting  their  power  over  the  rest  of  mankind. 

(6)  The  enterprise  of  zipliftitig  all  mankiiid,  carried  on 
from  that  triune  vantage  ground,  with  that  triune  power, 
will  bring  to  a  consummation  the  Americo-European  mis- 
sionary movement,  and  prove  a  crowning  mission  of  Amer- 
ico-European humanity. 


215 


APPENDIX  A 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  following  volumes  will  prove  helpful  for  auxiliary 
reading,  since  in  so  brief  a  text-book  only  the  leading  facts 
can  be  given.  If  class  work  is  to  be  successful,  some  fresh 
material  must  be  introduced  at  each  session.  The  lists  be- 
low suggest  such  material,  arranged  under  the  various 
chapters  of  the  book. 

Those  in  the  list  of  General  Works  are  in  most  cases 
available  for  all  of  the  chapters.  The  material  desired  can 
usually  be  found  under  the  name  of  the  country  treated,  in 
its  proper  alphabetical  order  if  in  an  encyclopaedia;  other- 
wise consult  tables  of  contents  or  indexes. 

GENERAL  WORKS  OF  REFERENCE. 

Bates,  H.  W.  :  Central  America,  the  West  Indies  and  South  America 

(i88s). 
Bliss,  E.  M.,  editor,  Encyclopaedia  of  Missions  (1891). 
Brown,  R.  :  Races  of  Mankind.     4  vols.     Vol.  I. 
Bureau  of  American  Republics.     See  their  handbooks  on  the  various 

republics. 
Chisholm,  G.  G.,  editor.  The  Times  Gazeteer  of  the  World  (1899). 
Chisholm,  G.  G.:  The  World  as  it  is  (1884).     2  vols. 
Curtis,  W.  E.:  Capitals  of  Spanish  America  (1888). 
Encyclopaedias  (general),  especially  "  Chambers'  Encyclopaedia,"  new 

edition,  and  Meyer's  "  Konbersations- Lexicon." 
Indexes  to  periodical  literature.     See  the  various  countries  in  Poole's, 

and  ««  Review  of  Reviews  "  Index  to  Periodicals,  and  the  "  Annual 

Literary  Index." 

ti6 


APPENDIX  A 

Keltie,  J.  S.  and  I.  P.  A.  Renwick.     Statesman's  Year-book. 

Mill,  H.  R.,  editor,  The  International  Geography  (1900). 

Reclus,  E.  :  The  Earth  and  Its  Inhabitants  —  South  America 
(1894-95).     2  vols. 

RiDPATH,  J.  C. :  Great  Races  of  Mankind  (1893).  4  vols.  Vol.  IV. ^ 
Bk.  xxviii. 

Saint-Martin,  V.  de:  Nouveau  Dictionnaire  de  Geographic  Uni- 
verselle  (1879- 1900). 

Scobel,  a.  :  Geographisches  Handbuch  zu  Andrees  Handatlas  (1899). 

Sievers,  W.  :  Amerika  (1894). 

Spencer,  H.,  and  others.  Descriptive  Sociology,  volumes  on  "  An- 
cient Mexicans,  Central  Americans,  Chibchas  and  Ancient  Peru- 
vians," and  on  "  North  and  South  American  Races." 

ADDITIONAL  READINGS  FOR  CHAPTER  I, 

BoRDiER,  A.:  La  Geographic  Medicale  (1884),  pp.  402-410,  455, 
482-487,  515-521,  627-641. 

Brown,  R.  :  Races  of  Mankind.     4  vols.     Vol.  II.,  pp.  I-12. 

Davidson,  A.:  Geographical  Pathology  (1892).  2  vols.  Vol.  I.,  In- 
troduction ;  Vol.  11, ,  pp.  926-988. 

Keane,  a.  H.:  Ethnology  (1896),  ch.  xiii. 

Olsson,  E.  :  The  Dark  Continent  at  Our  Doors  (1899). 

Ratzel,  F.  :  History  of  Mankind  (1897).     3  vols.    Vol.  II.,  pp.  48-78. 

Stuart,  V. :  Adventures  Amidst  Equatorial  Forests  and  Rivers  of 
South  America  (189 1),  ch.  iv. 

Taylor,  W.  :  Our  South  American  Cousins  (1878),  ch.  ii. 

ADDITIONAL  READINGS  FOR  CHAPTER  IL 

Brktt,  W.  H.  :  Mission  Work  among  the  Indian  Tribes  in  the  For- 
ests of  Guiana.     Especially  chs.  i.-iii.,  xiii.,  xiv. 
Brown,  W.  :  History  of  the  Propagation  of  Christianity  among  the 

Heathen  (1854).     3  vols.     Vol.  II.,  ch.  ix.,  sect.  vi. 
Burkhardt,  G.  E.  and  R,  Grundemann  :    Kleine  Missions-Bibli 

othek  (1876).    Vol.  I.,  Pt.  II.,  pp.  231-250.    Pt.  III.,  pp.  200-209, 
Gundert,  H.  :  Die  Evangelische  Mission  (1894),  pp.  504-509. 
Hodder,  E.  :  Conquests  of  the  Cross.    3  vols.    Vol.  II.,  pp.  419-428 

Vol.  HI.,  pp.  112-114. 
Holmes,  J. :  Historical  Sketches  of  the  Missions  of  the  United  Breth 

ren   for   Propagating  the   Gospel   among  the    Heathen.     Ch.  iv. 

sects.  i.~iii. 
Horne,  C.  S.  :  The  Story  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  (1895) 

pp.  146-170. 

217 


APPENDIX  A 

VON  Humboldt,  A. :  Travels  to  the  Equinoctial  Regions  of  America, 
1799-1804  (1852).     3  vols.     Vol.  III.,  pp.  19-23,  50-62. 

JosA,  F.  P.  L.:  The  Apostle  of  the  Indians  of  Guiana  (1888),  espe- 
cially chs.  ii.,  iv.,  vii,,  xi.,  xiii. 

LovETT,  R. :  The  History  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  (1895), 
2  vols.,  pp.  319-375- 

Missionary  Review  of  the  IVorld  (1S96),  pp.  519-523- 

RODWAY,  J. :  In  the  Guiana  Forest  (1897),  PP-  i7-6i- 

RoDWAY,  J.  and  J.  Stark  :  Guide-book  and  History  of  British  Guiana, 
pp.  58-120. 

ScHOMBURGK,  R.  H. :  Description  of  British  Guiana  (1840),  pp.  17-28. 

Smith,  T.  and  J.  O.  Choules  :  The  Origin  and  History  of  Missions 
(1832),  pp.  108-121,533-552. 

Stuart,  V. :  Adventures  amidst  Equatorial  Forests  and  Rivers  of 
South  America  (1891),  ch.  v. 

Stuart,  V.:  Equatorial  Forests  and  Rivers  of  South  America  (1891), 
ch.  v. 

Thompson,  A.  C.:  Moravian  Missions  (1895).     Lecture  IV. 

Veness,  W.  T.  :  Ten  Years  of  Mission  Life  in  British  Guiana,  through- 
out. 

VOGEL,  C:  Le  Monde  Terrestre  (1884).     Vol.  III.,  ch.  vii. 

Waterton,  C.  :  Wanderings  in  South  America  (1885),  PP-  87-147- 

ADDITIONAL  READINGS  FOR  CHAPTER  III. 

Brown,  W.  :  History  of  the  Propagation  of  Christianity  among  the 
Heathen  (1854).     3  vols.     Vol.  I.,  pp.  352-367- 

BuRKHARDT,  G.  E.  and  R.  Grundemann  :  Kleine  Missions-Bibli- 
othek  (1876).     Vol.  I.,  Pt.  III.,  pp.  176-200. 

Gundert,  H.  :  Die  Evangelische  Mission  (1894),  pp.  501-504. 

HoDDER,  E. :  Conquests  of  the  Cross.    3  vols.    Vol.  III.,  pp.  1 14-1 18. 

Holmes,  J. :  Historical  Sketches  of  the  Missions  of  the  United  Breth- 
ren.    Ch,  iv.,  sects,  iv.-vi. 

Leonard,  D.  L.  :  A  Hundred  Years  of  Missions  (1895),  pp.  370-372. 

Missionary  Review  of  the  World  ^1897),  PP-  809-816. 

Palgrave,  W.  G.:  Dutch  Guiana  (1876),  pp.  32-70,  I39-I73- 

Smith,  T.  and  J.  O.  Choules  :  The  Origin  and  History  of  Missions 
(1832),  pp.  108-121. 

Stuart,  V. :  Adventures  amidst  Equatorial  Forests  and  Rivers  of 
South  America  (1891),  chs.  i.-iii. 

Stuart,  V.:  Equatorial  Forests  and  Rivers  of  South  America  (1891), 
chs.  ii.,  iii. 

Thompson,  A.  C. :  Moravian  Missions  (1895).     Lecture  IV. 

VoGEL,  C:  Le  Monde  Terrestre  (1884).     Vol.  III.,  ch.  vii. 

218 


APPENDIX  A 

ADDITIONAL  READINGS  FOR  CHAPTER  IV. 
AgASSIZ,  L.  :  A  Journey  in  Brazil  (1868),  pp.  54-58,  173-180,495-517. 
Andrews,  C.  C.  :  Brazil,  Its  Condition  and  Prospects  (1891),  chs.  iv., 

vii.,  xi.,  xiv.,  xix. 
Barnes,  A.  M. :  Izilda,  a  Story  of  Brazil  (1896). 
Bates,  H.  W.  :  The  Naturalist  on  the  Amazons  (1863).     2  vols.,  pp. 

59-76,  86-95. 
Bigg-Wither,  T.  P.:  Pioneering  in  South  Brazil  (1878).     2  vols. 

Vol.  I.,  pp.  114-119. 
Brown,  W.  :  History  of  the  Propagation  of  Christianity  among  the 

Heathen  (1854).     3  vols.     Vol.  L,  ch.  i. 
DuNDAS,  R. :  Sketches  of  Brazil  (medical).    Especially  sects,  i.,  ii.,  iv. 
Fletcher,  J.  C.  and  D.  P.  Kidder  :  Brazil  and  the  Brazilians  (1866), 

pp.  161-176. 
Ford,  I.  N. :  Tropical  America  (1893),  chs.  ii.-iv. 
Gardner,  G.  :  Travels  in  the  Interior  of  Brazil  (1849),  pp.  342-347. 
Gundert,  H.;  Die  Evangelische  Mission  (1894),  pp.  509-511. 
Historical  Sketches  of  Presbyterian  Missions  (1897),  PP-  S^S'-S^S- 
Hodder,  E.  :  Conquests  of  the  Cross.    3  vols.    Vol.  HI.,  pp.  98-III. 
Humphrey,  A.  R.  :  A  Summer  Journey  in  Brazil  (1900),  pp.  72-95, 

102-111,  141-146. 
John,  I.  G. :  Handbook  of  [Southern]  Methodist  Missions  (1893),  pp. 

102,  103,  272-311. 
Leonard,  D.  L.  :  A  Hundred  Years  of  Missions  (1895),  pp.  375-377. 
Mackenzie,  R.  :  America,  a  History  (1882),  pp.  544-557. 
Millard,  E.  C.  and  L.  E.  Guinness  :  South  America,  the  Neglected 

Continent  (1894),  pp.  50-63.  82-89,  118-135,  159-165. 
Missionary   Review    of  the    World   (1890),   pp.    341 -348,  422-427; 

(1892),  pp.  868-870;  (1895),  pp.  812-819;  (1896),  pp.  109-II3; 

(1897),  PP-  300-302,  539,  540,  832-835,  854,  855. 
Orton,  J.:  The  Andes  and  the  Amazon  (1870),  chs,  xxi.,  xxii. 
Reid,  J.  M.  and  J.  T.  Gracey:  Methodist  Episcopal  Missions  (1895), 

3  vols.     Vol.  L,  pp.  285-302. 
Smith,  H.  H. :  Brazil,  the  Amazons  and  the  Coast  (1879),  pp.  I-18, 

205-225,  541-587- 
Southey,  R.  :  History  of  Brazil  (1822),  pp.  5-32. 
Student  Missionary  Appeal  (1898),  pp.  282-284,  287-289. 
Thompson,  A.  C. :  Protestant  Missions  (1894),  pp.  9-12. 
VoGEL,  C. :  Le  Monde  Terrestre  (1884).     Vol.  III.,  ch.  vi. 
Wallace,  A.  R.:  Travels  on  the  Amazon  and  Rio  Negro  (1853), 

pp.  476-519- 
Wells,  J.  W.:  Three   Thousand    Miles   through   Brazil   (1886),  pp. 

347-358- 
Young,  R.  :  From  Cape  Horn  to  Panama  (1900),  pp.  1 16-123,  125- 

127,  181-187. 

219 


APPENDIX  A 
ADDITIONAL  READINGS  FOR  CHAPTER  V. 

PARAGUAY. 

Child,  T.  :  The  Spanish-American  Republics  (1891),  pp.  366-403. 
Clemens,  E.  J.  M. :  La  Plata  Countries  of  South  America  (1886), 

chs.  xxx.-xxxii. 
Handbook  of  Paraguay  (1892),  chs.  i.,  ii.,  viii.,  xv. 
La  Dardye,  E.  de  B.  :  Paraguay  (trans.  1892),  pp.  56-74. 
MULHALL,  M.  G.  and  E.  T. :  Handbook  of  the  River  Plate  (1892), 

pp.  637-653. 
Page,  T.  J, :  La  Plata,  the  Argentine  Confederation,,  and  Paraguay 

(1859),  ch.  xxvi. 
Rays  of  Sunlight  in  Darkest  South  America,  pp.  34-43. 
VoGEL,  C:  Le  Monde  Terrestre  (1884).     Vol.  III.,  ch.  v.,  sect.  13. 
Young,  R.  :  From  Cape  Horn  to  Panama  (1900),  pp.  128-157. 

URUGUAY. 

Child,  T.:  The  Spanish-American  Republics  (1891),  pp.  404-433. 
Clemens,  E.  J.  M.:  La  Plata  Countries  of  South  America  (1886), 

ch.  vi. 
Crawford,  R.  :   South  American  Sketches  (1898),  especially  chs. 

iii.,  xxii. 
Handbook  of  Uruguay  (1892),  chs.  i.,  vi. 
Herzog,  C.  :  Aus  Amerika,  ch.  xliv. 
Millard,  E.  C.  and  L.  E.  Guinness  :  South  America,  the  Neglected 

Continent  (1894),  pp.  46-49. 
MuLHALL,  M.  G.  and  E.  T.;  Handbook  of  the  River  Plate  (1892), 

pp.  581-613. 
Page,  T.  J. :  La  Plata,  the  Argentine  Confederation,  and  Paraguay 

(1859),  ch.  xxvi. 
Rays  of  Sunlight  in  Darkest  South  America,  pp.  52-62. 
Reid,  J.  M.  and  J.  T.  Gracey  :  Methodist  Episcopal  Missions  (1895), 

3  vols.,  pp.  302-316,  369-376. 
Vogel,  C:  Le  Monde  Terrestre  (1884).     Vol.  III.,  ch.  v.,  sect.  12. 

argentine  republic  and  fuegia. 

Bishop,  N.  H.:  The  Pampas  and  Andes  (1883),  chs.  vii.,  viii. 
Brown,  W.  :  History  of  the  Propagation  of  Christianity  among  the 

Heathen  (1854).     3  vols.     Vol.  III.,  Appendix  I.,  XVIII. 
Burkhardt,  G.  E.  and  R.  Grundemann  :    Kleine  Missions-Bibli- 

othek  (1876).     Vol.  I.,  Pt.  II.,  pp.  253-264. 
Child,  T.  :  The  Spanish-American  Republics  (1891),  pp.  305-342. 

220 


APPENDIX  A 

Clemens,  E.  J.  M. :  La  Plata  Countries  of  South  America  (1886), 

ch.  ix. 
CoAN,  T. :  Adventures  in  Patagonia  (1880),  especially  chs.  vii.,  xii.,  xvii, 
Crawford,  R.  :  Across   the    Pampas   and   the  Andes    (1884),  Ap* 

pendix  II. 
Darwin,  C.  :  A  Naturalist's  Voyage  (1886),  pp.  177-188,  204-230. 
Dixie,  Lady  F.  :  Across  Patagonia  (1880),  pp.  62-80,  151-154. 
Ford,  I.  N. :  Tropical  America  (1893),  ch.  vi. 

HoDDER,  E. :  Conquests  of  the  Cross.     3  vols.     Vol,  III.,  ch.  Ixxii. 
Hudson,  W.  H.:  Idle  Days  in  Patagonia  (1893),  PP-  5-7»  207-216. 
Hudson,  W.  H.:  The  Naturalist  in  La  Plata  (1892),  ch.  i. 
John,  I.  G. :  Handbook  of  Methodist  Missions  (1893),  PP-  468-480. 
Leonard,  D.  L.  :  A  Hundred  Years  of  Missions  (1895),  PP-  372-375- 
Marsh,  J.  W.  and  W.  H.  Stirling  :   Story  of  Commander   Allen 

Gardiner,  R.  N.  (1874),  especially  chs.  iv.-viii. 
Millard,  E.  C.  and  L.  E.  Guinness  :  South  America,  the  Neglected 

Continent  (1894),  pp.  20-45,  89-93,  IOO-I17. 
MULHALL,  M.  G.  and  E.  T.:  Handbook  of  the  River  Plate  (1892), 

pp.  1-7,  247-306. 
Myers,   S.   A.:    Self-sacrifice,  or  the   Pioneers  of    Fuegia   (1861), 

chs.  viii.,  xv.-xix. 
Page,  T.  J. :  La  Plata,  the  Argentine  Confederation,  and  Paraguay 

(1859),  ch.  xxvi. 
Pertuiset,  E.  :  Le  Tr6sor  des  Incas  a  la  Terre  de  Fere  (1877),  ch.  viii. 
Ratzel,  F.  :  History  of  Mankind  (1897).    3  vols.    Vol.  II.,  pp.  78-91. 
Rays  of  Sunlight  in  Darkest  South  America,  pp.  9-34,  47-52,  71-73. 
Reid,  J.  M.  and  J.  T.  Gracey  :  Methodist  Episcopal  Missions  (1895). 

3  vols,  pp.  302-316,  354-365- 
Thompson,  R.  W.  and  A.  N.  Johnson  :   British   Foreign  Missions 

(1899),  pp.  no,  III. 
VoGEL,  C. :  Le  Monde  Terrestre  (1884).   Vol.  III.,  ch.  v.,  sects.  10,  11. 
Young,  R.  :  From  Cape  Horn  to  Panama  (1900),  pp.  44-88,  97-114. 
Young,  R.  :  Light  in  Lands  of  Darkness  (1884),  pp.  33-70. 

ADDITIONAL  READINGS  FOR  CHAPTER  VI. 

Bishop,  N.  H.  :  The  Pampas  and  Andes  (1883),  ch.  xx. 

Herzog,  C.  :  Aus  Amerika,  chs.  xxxviii.,  xxxix. 

Historical  Sketches  of  Presbyterian  Missions  (1897),  pp.  323-332. 

Missionary  Review  of  the  World  (1897),  PP-  575-579- 

Reid,  J.  M.  and  J.  T.  Gracey  :  Methodist  Episcopal  Missions  (1895). 

3  vols.,  pp.  379-382. 
Taylor,  W.  :  Our  South  American  Cousins  (1878),  chs.  vi.-xxi. 
Vogel,  C.  :  Le  Monde  Terrestre  (1884).     Vol.  III.,  ch.  v.,  sect  9. 
Young,  R.:  From  Cape  Horn  to  Panama  (1900),  pp.  89-97,  158-180. 

221 


APPENDIX  A 
ADDITIONAL  READINGS  FOR  CHAPTER  VII. 

BOLIVIA. 

Myers,  S.  A.:  Self-sacrifice,  or  the  Pioneers  of  Fuegia  (1861),  ch.  xi. 
Reid,  J.  M.  and  J.  T.  Gracey  :  Metliodist  Episcopal  Missions  (1895). 

3  vols.,  pp.  379-382. 
VoGEL,  C. :  Le  Monde  Terrestre  (1884).     Vol.  III.,  ch.  v.,  sect.  8. 


Darwin,  C.:  A  Naturalist's  Voyage  (1886),  pp.  362-371. 
Herzog,  C.  :  Aus  Amerika,  chs.  xxxv.,  xxxvi. 

Markham,  C.  R.  :  History  of  Peru  ( 1 892),  chs.  i.,  ii.,  pp.  1 1-64,  ch.  xxi. 
Markham,  C.  R.  :  Travels  in  Peru  and  India  (1862),  pp.  1-59. 
Middendorf,  E.  W. :  Peru  (1893).     3  vols.     Vol.  I.,  pp.  157-270; 

Vol.  II.,  pp.  1-34. 
Millard,  E.  C.  and  L.  E.  Guinness  :  South  America,  the  Neglected 

Continent  (1894),  pp.  138-146. 
Prescott,  W.  H.  :  History  of  the  Conquest  of  Peru,  Vol.  I.,  chs.  i.,  iii. 
Ratzel,  F.:  History  of  Mankind  (1897).    3  vols.    Vol.  II.,  pp.  170- 

203. 

Reid,  J.  M.  and  J.  T.  Gracey  :  Methodist  Episcopal  Missions  (1895). 

3  vols.,  pp.  379-382,  391-393- 
Taylor,  W.  :  Our  South  American  Cousins  (1878),  chs.  iii.-v. 
Vogel,  C.  :  Le  Monde  Terrestre  (1884).     Vol.  III.,  ch.  v.,  sect.  7. 

ECUADOR. 

Missionary  Review  of  the  World  (1897),  PP-  37-4<^- 

StObel,  a.:  Skizzen  aus  Ecuador  (1886).     (Cuts  accompanied  by 

short  descriptions.) 
Vogel,  C:  Le  Monde  Terrestre  (1884).     Vol.  III.,  ch.  v.,  sect.  6. 

ADDITIONAL  READINGS  FOR  CHAPTER  VIII. 

Historical  Sketches  of  Presbyterian  Missions  (1897),  PP*  332-339. 

Petermann's  Mitteilungen  for  1892,  pp.  87-125. 

Rays  of  Sunlight  in  Darkest  South  America,  pp.  75-79. 

Regel,  F.  :  Kolumbien  (1899),  PP-  86-121,  139-169. 

Student  Missionary  Appeal  (1898),  pp.  281,  282. 

Vogel,  C:  Le  Monde  Terrestre  (1884).     Vol.  III.,  ch.  v.,  sect.  4. 

ADDITIONAL  READINGS  FOR  CHAPTER  IX. 

Butterworth,  H.  :  Over  the  Andes  (1897),  chs.  vii.,  viii. 
Curtis,  W.  E.  :  Venezuela  (1896),  especially  chs.  i.,  v.,  xii.,  xvi. 
von  Humboldt,  A. :  Natur  und  Reisebilder  (1875),  P^-  ^I-'  ^hs.  i.,  iii. 
von  Humboldt,  A. :  Travels  to  the  Equinoctial  Regions  of  America, 

222 


APPENDIX  A 

1799-1804  (1852).     3  vols.     Vol.  I.,  pp.  394-401 ;  Vol.  II.,  pp.  84- 

109;  Vol.  III.,  pp.  137-142. 
SlEVERS,  W.:  Die  Cordillere  von  Merida  (1888),  pp.  191-225. 
VOGEL,  C:  Le  Monde  Terrestre  (1884).     Vol.  III.,  ch.  v.,  sect.  5. 

ADDITIONAL  READINGS  FOR  CHAPTER  X. 

Clemens,  E.  J.  M.;   La  Plata  Countries  of  South  America  (1886), 
ch.  xxix. 

Ecumenical  Missionary  Conference,  New  York,  1990.     2  vols.,  ch.  xix. 
Mackenzie,  R.  :  America,  a  History  (1882),  pp.  534-543. 
Millard,  E.  C.  and  L.  E.  Guinness  :  South  America,  the  Neglected 

Continent  (1894),  pp.  69-81,  94-99,  166-176. 
Missionary  Review  of  the    World  (1893),  PP-  836-839;   (1897),  PP 

842,  843. 
Student  Missionary  Appeal  (1898),  pp.  284-287,  289-297. 


223 


APPENDIX  B 


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227 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX 

Besides  indicating  the  location  of  important  topics,  this  IndcK  is 
also  intended  for  use  in  preparing  the  various  studies.  Having  read 
over  its  analytical  outline  before  taking  up  each  chapter,  the  student 
sees  exactly  what  ground  is  covered  by  the  section  to  be  mastered. 
So,  too,  after  having  studied  the  chapter,  its  outline  can  again  be  used 
in  lieu  of  questions  put  by  a  teacher,  thus  enabling  the  student  to  see 
what  topics  have  been  forgotten.  The  numerals  following  each  topic 
and  sub-topic  refer  to  the  pages  where  they  may  be  found. 

CHAPTER  I 

GEOGRAPHICAL   AND   GBNBRAL 

I.    Panoramic  view  of  South  America,  3,  4. 
II.    River  systems  of  the  continent,  4-7. 
I.  The  Orinoco  and  its  tributaries,  5. 
«.  The  Amazon,  or  Amazons,  5,  6. 

3.  The  Rio  de  la  Plata,  6. 

4.  South  America's  degree  of  accessibility,  7. 
III.     Highlands  and  mountains,  7-10. 

1.  Highlands  of  Guiana  and  Brazil,  7. 

2.  South  America's  great  mountains,  7-10. 

(x)  General  characterization,  7.  8.    (2)  Andean  scenery :  in  the  south,  8  ; 
in  Chile,  8;  in  Bolivia,  8;  in  Peru,  8,  9 ;  in  Ecuador,  9,  10; 
in  Colombia,  10.    (3)  Bearings  of  these  mountains  on  mission- 
ary geography,  10, 
IT.     Habitable  plains,  10-14, 

1.  The  Llanos  of  the  Orinoco,  10,  11. 

(i)  General  characteristics,  10,  11.     (2)  Reclus'  description,  11. 

2.  Selvas  of  the  Amazon,  11,  12. 

(i)  Extent  and  character,  11.    (2)  As  seen  by  travellers,  externally  and 
internally,  12. 

3.  The  Gran  Chaco,  12,  13. 

(i^  Location  and  character,  12,  13.     (2)  A  Chaco  night  scene,  13. 

4.  The  pampas,  13,  14. 

(i)  Different  pampa  regions,  13.     (2)  Summer  morning  on  the  pampas, 
13,  14.    (3)  Their  moral  effect,  14. 
V.     Wastes  and  deserts,  14-16. 

1.  The  Shingle  Desert  of  Patagonia,  14,  15, 

(x)  General  character  and  extent,  15.     (2)  Impressions  mad«  by  this 
desert,  15. 

2.  The  Atacama  Desert,  15,  16. 

3.  Salt  and  fresh  marshes,  x6. 

VI.    South  American  productions,  16,  17. 
X.  Minerals  and  metals,  16. 
s.  Products  of  the  forests,  16,  17. 

228 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX 

3.  Field  products,  17. 

4.  South  America's  place  in  twentieth  century  development,  17. 
VII.     South  American  races,  17-22, 

1.  Dr.  Herbertson's  summary  view  of  these,  iS, 

2.  Their  social  condition.  iS,  ig. 

3.  Immigration  and  its  prospects,  ig-22. 

(I)  Habitable  area  available,  19,  20.     (2)   Material  resources,  20.     (3) 
Accessibility  to  immigrants,  20.     (4)   Climatic  conditions  and 
diseases,  20,  21.     (5)   Stability  of  government,  21,  22. 
VIII.     Characteristic  features  of  different  countries.  22-27. 

1.  Argentine  Republic,  including  Patagonia,'  22. 

2.  Bolivia,  22,  23. 

3.  Brazil,  23. 

4.  Chile,  23,  24. 

5.  Colombia,  24. 

6.  Ecuador,  24. 

7.  The  Falklands  and  South  Georgia,  24,  25. 

8.  The  three  Guianas,  25. 

9.  Paraguay,  25,  26, 

10.  Peru,  26. 

11.  Uruguay,  26. 

12.  Venezuela,  26,  27. 

IX.     Method  of  treatment  here  followed,  27, 

1.  Relation  of  main  parts  of  the  text-book,  27. 

2.  Order  of  presentation,  27. 

CHAPTER  II 

BRITISH    GUIANA,    OR    DEMHRARA 

I.     Settlement  of  British  Guiana,  31. 
II.     Its  population,  31-33. 

1.  Number  and  races,  31,  32. 

2.  Negroes  and  effect  of  their  enfranchisement,  32. 

3.  Immigrants  and  their  home  countries,  32,  33. 

4.  Difficulties  of  evangelizing  immigrants,  33. 
Summary  of  the  work  of  different  churches,  33-37. 

1.  Early  attempts  :  Individuals,  JNloravians,  C.  M.  S.,  3?, 

2.  Initial  efforts  of  the  S.  P.  G.,  33,  34. 

3.  Original  attitude  of  the  government,  34. 

4.  Bishop  Austin's  labors,  34,  35. 

5.  Other  societies  and  their  work,  35. 

6.  Gradual  withdrawal  of  government  aid,  35,  36, 

7.  Extent  of  missionary  success  in  Guiana,  36,  37. 

8.  Future  of  the  Guiana  negro,  37. 
Work  for  the  aboriginal  races,  37-40. 

1.  The  societies  engaged,  37,  38. 

2.  Description  of  one  mission,  38,  39. 

(i)  Mr.    Brett's   labors,  38.     (2)  Results   of  missionary  effort,  38, 
(3)  The  mission  station  described,  39. 

3.  Characteristics  and  future  prospects  of  the  Indians,  39,  40. 
V.     Mission  work  for  Asiatic  immigrants,  40-42. 

1.  The  Chinese  and  their  Christianization,  40. 

2.  The  Eart  Indians,  41,  42. 

(i)  Denominational  cooperation  ;  meagre  results,  41.     (2)  Hope  for  the 
younger  generation,  41,  42. 

CHAPTER  III 

DUTCH    GUIANA,    OR    SURINAM 

I.     Races  of  Dutch  Guiana,  45-47. 
I.  Races  and  their  numbers,  45. 

229 


III 


IV 


ANALYTICAL   INDEX 

2.  The  African  populations,  45,  46. 

3.  Religious  ideas  of  tlie  Bush  Negroes,  46,  47, 
II,     Moravian  Indian  missions,  47-49. 

1.  Beginnings  and  pioneers,  47,  48. 

2.  A  second  Indian  mission,  48,  49. 

(1)  Louis  Christopher  Dahne,  48.     (2)  Retrogression,  48,  49. 

III.  Mission  to  negro  slaves,  49-51. 

1.  Early  policy  of  this  work,  49. 

2.  Difficulties  encountered  by  early  missionaries;  Verbond,  49,  50. 

3.  Languages  used  :  Negro-English,  Dutch,  50. 

4.  Steps  toward  a  self-dependent  native  church,  50,  51. 

IV.  Missionary  work  among  Bush  Negroes,  51-54. 

1.  The  land  of  these  negroes,  51. 

2.  Work  in  the  interior,  52-54. 

(i)  Missionaries  engaged,  51.     (2)  Schmidt  renews  the  mission,  52,  53. 
(3)   Mary  Hartmann's  labors,  53,  54. 

3.  Present  status  of  the  mission,  54. 
V.     Work  for  coolies  and  lepers,  54. 

1.  Coolie  mission,  54. 

2.  The  leper  hospital,  54. 

VI.    Statistics  of  Moravian  Guiana  missions,  54. 
VII.     Difficulties  of  the  Guiana  field,  55. 

1.  Proselyting  by  Roman  Catholics,  55. 

2.  Looseness  of  the  marriage  tie,  55. 

CHAPTER  IV 


I.     Discovery  and  subsequent  history,  59-62. 

1.  Period  of  discovery  and  settlement  (i 500-1640),  59,  60. 

2.  Period  of  development  (1640-1822),  60,  Ci. 

(i)  Accelerated  progress  and  reasons  therefor,  60.  (2)  Obstacles  to 
progress,  60.  (3)  Leading  spirits  of  the  period,  60.  (4)  Its 
close,  60,  61. 

3.  The  Empire  (1822-18S9),  61. 

(i)  Early  portion  of  the  period,  61.     (2)   Reign  of  Dom  Pedro  II.,  61, 

4.  The  United  States  of  Brazil  (1889-),  61,  62. 

(i)  Positivism  ;  new  attitude  of  the  masses,  61,  62.     (2)  Presidency  of 
Dr.  Campos  Sales,  62. 
II.     Peoples  of  Brazil,  62-67. 

1.  General  statements  concerning  them,  62,  63. 

(i)  Their  relative  proportions,  62,  63.  (2)  Growth  in  population,  63. 
(3)  The  immigrants,  63.     (4)  Languages,  63. 

2.  The  whites,  63-65. 

(i)  Earlier  and  later  immigrants,  63,64.  (2)  Characterized:  socially, 
physically,  intellectually,  morally,  64,  65. 

3.  The  blacks,  65,  66. 

(i)  Introduction  of  slavery  and  later  condition,  65.  (2)  Romanism 
and  the  blacks,  65,  66. 

4.  Aboriginal  races,  66,  67. 

(i)   Habitat  and  possible  origin,  66.     (2)  Social  and  moral  character- 
istics, 66,  67. 
III.     Conditions  bearing  on  Protestant  missions,  67-74. 

1.  Social  conditions,  67-70. 

(1)  Statistics,  67,  68.  (2)  Race  and  color  line,  68.  (3)  The  family  and 
its  debasement,  68,  69.  (4)  Need  for  missions,  69,  70.  (5) 
Noble  elements  of  character,  70. 

2.  Political  conditions.  70. 

3.  Brazil's  intellectual  life,  70-74. 

(i)  First  college  in  Brazil,  71,  72.  (2)  Present  intellectual  status :  de- 
gree of  illiteracy,   schools   and   higher   institutions,   72,   73. 

2.^0 


ANALYTIC A.L  INDEX 

(3)  Brazil's  literary   men,  73.     (4)  Book   stores  and  period- 
icals,   73.      (5)    Intellectual    influence    of    Protestant    mis- 
sions, 73,  74. 
IV.     Protestant  missions  in  Brazil,  74-88. 

1.  Early  pioneers  under  Villegagnon,  74-76. 

(i)  Securing  colonists,  74.  (2)  Arrival  and  disagreements,  74,  75. 
(3)  Effect  of  failure  on  Brazil's  history,  75,  76. 

2.  Dutch  attempts  at  evangelization,  76,  77. 

(i)  Religious  aim  and  work,  76.     (2)  Success  among  the  Indians,  76,  77, 

3.  Some  efforts  of  the  northern  Methodists,  77. 

(i)  Early  workers  and  work,  77.     (2)   Mr.  Nelson's  labors,  77. 

4.  "  Help  for  Brazil,"  78,  79. 

(i)  Dr.  Kalley's  efforts,  78.  (2)  Its  extension,  77,  78.  (3)  Formal  or- 
ganization of  the  society,  79. 

5.  Northern  Presbyterian  enterprises,  79,  80. 

(i)  Beginnings  under  Mr.  Simonton,  79.  (2)  Subsequent  spread,  79. 
(3)  McKenzie  College,  79,  80. 

6.  Southern  Presbyterian  mission,  80. 

(i)  Pioneers  and  lines  of  work,  80.     (2)  United  Synod  of  Brazil,  80. 

7.  Southern  Methodist  work,  81,  82. 

(i)  Initiation  and  development  of  the  mission,  81.  (2)  Work  taken 
from  the  northern  Methodists,  8i,  82. 

8.  Southern  Baptist  convention,  82. 

9.  Protestant  Episcopal  missions,  82,  83. 
ID.  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  83. 

11.  American  Bible  Society,  83,  84. 

12.  International  Committee  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  84. 

13.  Smaller  independent  movements,  84,  85. 

{1)  Societies,  84.     {2)  Church  of  England,  85.     (3)  Lutherans,  85. 

14.  Successful  features  of  these  societies,  85,  86. 

(i)  Usual  methods,  85.  (2)  Use  of  the  Bible,  85,  86.  (3)  Emphasis  of 
self-supporting  churches,  86. 

15.  Distribution  of  missionary  and  other  forces,  86,  87. 

16.  Work  for  the  aborigines,  87,  88. 

(i)  What  has  been  done,  86,     (2)  Further  work  greatly  needed,  87,  88. 

CHAPTER  V 

REPUBLICS    OF    THE    PLATA    RIVER 

I.     The  River  Plata  and  adjacent  countries,  91-99. 

1.  The  river  and  its  great  tributaries,  91,  92. 

2.  Physical  characteristics  of  the  Plata  republics,  92,  93. 

(i)  Forests,  92.  (2)  Pastures,  92.  (3)  Fruit  producing  area,  92.  (4) 
Mineral  resources,  92,  93. 

3.  The  peoples  of  these  countries,  93,  94. 

(1)  Common  characteristics,  93.  (2)  Various  currents  of  immigration, 
93i  94-  (3)  Uncivilized  Indians,  94.  (4)  South  America,  the 
theatre  of  Latin  development,  94. 

4.  Moral  conditions  of  these  republics,  94-09. 

(i)  General  statement,  94,  95.  (2)  Isabella's  mistake,  95.  (3)  Protestant 
tendencies  purged  out,  95,  96.  (4)  South  American  Roman- 
ism characterized,  96,  97.  (5)  The  question  of  fundamental 
truths  :  Protestantism's  leading  principles  ;  teachings  of  Ro- 
manism. 97,  98.  (6)  Possibilities  for  the  Romanist,  98,  99. 
(7)  Supreme  motive  in  work  for  Romanists,  99. 
IL     Missions  in  Paraguay,  99-103. 

1.  Historical  facts  preceding  the  coming  of  Protestantism,  99,  100. 

2.  Causes  and  establishment  of  the  first  mission,  100,  101. 

3.  Vindication  of  the  civil  status  of  Protestantism,  loi. 

4.  South  American  Missionary  Society's  Indian  work,  101-103. 

(i)  Beginnings,  loi,  102.  (2)  Character  of  these  Indians,  102.  (3) 
Work  done  for  them,  102,  103. 

231 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX 

III.  Missions  in  Uruguay,  103-106. 

1.  Historical  reasons  for  its  being  a  "  BuiTer  State,"  103,  104. 

2.  Montevideo  and  other  towns,  104. 

3.  Present  status  of  Protestantism  in  Uruguay,  104-106. 

(i)  The  Church  of  England's  work,  104,  105.  (2)  The  Waldensian 
Church,  105.  (3)  Salvation  Army  and  Lutherans,  105.  (4) 
Vernacular  work  of  the  Methodist  Church  (North),  105,  106. 

IV.  Argentine  Republic,  106-116. 

1.  Its  natural  advantages,  106. 

(1)  Geographical  features,  106.     (2)  Resulting  immigration,  106. 

2.  Its  heroic  history,  106,  107. 

3.  Characteristics  making  Argentina  an  important   factor  In  the  future, 

107-110. 
(1)   A  land  of  plenty,    107.     (2)    Favorable  climate,    107,    108.     (3)    A 
wheat  producer  for  the   world,  108.     (4)   Its  commercial  im- 
portance,   108,    109.     (5)    Leader  in  progressive  movements, 
109.     (6)  Summary,  109,  110. 

4.  Beginnings  of  Protestant  effort,  no,  iii. 

(i)  Three  periods  with  dates,  no.  (2)  Character  and  beginning  of  early 
work,  110.  (3)  Service  of  the  Bible  societies,  110.  (4) 
Founding  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  mission,  in. 

5.  Present  status  of  Argentine  Protestant  missions,  111-113. 

(i)  Fundamental  value  of  the  Bible  work,  in.  (a)  Populations  of  Ar- 
gentine field,  in,  112.  (3)  Twofold  aim  of  Argentine  work, 
112.  (4)  Protestant  missions  not  primarily  proselyting  agen- 
cies, but  rather  constructive  forces,  112.  (3)  Missions  not  an 
undesired  intrusion,  113. 

6.  Buenos  Aires,  the  chief  missionary  centre,  113-115. 

(i)  Its  cosmopolitan  character  and  strategic  importance,  113,  114.  (2) 
Church  of  England  in  city  and  suburbs,  114.  (3)  Lutheran 
and  Reformed  churches,  114.  (4)  Isolated  individual  enter- 
prises, 114.     (5)  Methodist  Episcopal  mission,  114,  115. 

7.  Missionary  operations  in  provinces  and  towns,  115,  116. 

(i)  In  Rosario,  115.  (2)  In  Parana,  115,  116.  (3)  Valley  of  the  Chubut 
river,  116. 

8.  Work  of  the  South  American  Missionary  Society,  116. 

9.  The  fruitage  of  Argentinean  missions,  116. 

CHAPTER  VI 


I.     Origin  of  the  name  Chile,  119. 
II.     Geography  of  the  republic,  119,  120. 

1.  Its  location  and  dimensions,  119, 

2.  The  northern  section  described,  119,  120. 

3.  Its  central  zone,  120. 

4.  The  southern  portion  of  Chile,  120. 

III.  Mineral  productions,  120,  121. 

1.  The  nitrate  of  soda  deposits  ;  description,  120,  i2X. 

2.  Products  of  the  mine  :  copper,  silver,  etc.,  121. 

IV.  Agriculture  ;  fruits  ;  wool  and  hides,  121. 
V.     Industries  of  Chile,  121,  122. 

1.  The  protective  system  and  factories,  121. 

2.  Present  manufactures,  121,  122. 
VI.    Commerce  of  the  republic,  122. 

1.  Its  character,  122. 

2.  Chilean  ports,  122. 

3.  Imports  and  nationalities  engaged,  122. 
VII.     Populations  of  Chile,  122,  123, 

1.  Principal  cities,  122. 

2.  Races :  pcones,  foreign  colonists,  122,  123. 

232 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX 


VIII. 


IX. 


X. 
XI. 


XII. 
XIII. 

XIV. 
XV. 

XVI. 
XVII. 

XVIII. 


Government,  of  the  republic,  123-125. 

1.  Its  character,  123. 

2.  Congress  :  branches  and  membership,  123, 

3.  Right  of  suffrage  ;  ballot,  123. 

4.  The  parliamentary  system,  124. 

5.  President  and  Council  of  State,  124. 

6.  The  Judiciary,  124. 

7.  Provincial  intendants  and  governors,  124. 

8.  Centralization  of  power,  124,  125. 

9.  Government  ownership  of  telegraphs  and  railways,  135. 

10.  Navy  and  fortified  ports,  125. 

11.  Civil  list  and  its  effect  on  business  and  finance,  125. 
Education,  lower  and  higher,  125,  126. 
I.  Schools  and  university,  125,  126. 
3.  Special  schools,  public  and  private,  126. 
Societies  and  institutes,  126. 
Eleemosynary  institutions,  126. 

1.  Their  variety  and  character,  126. 

2.  Effect  on  private  benevolence,  126. 
Santiago,  the  Pearl  of  the  Andes,  127,  128. 
I.  Setting  of  the  city,  127. 

3.  Nearer  views  of  Santiago,  127,  128, 

3.  Its  elevation  and  water  supply,  128. 

4.  A  great  social  and  residential  centre,  128. 

5.  Its  history,  128. 
History  of  Chile,  128-130. 

1.  Diego  Almagro's  coming,  128,  129. 

2.  Settlements  under  Pedro  Valdivia,  129. 

3.  Colonists  and  the  aboriginal  Araucanians,  129. 

4.  Incentives  to  freedom,  129. 

5.  Freedom  won,  129,  130. 
(1)  Story  of  the  struggle,  129,  130. 

6.  The  building  of  the  nation,  130. 
Chilean  social  life,  130,  131. 

1.  Winter  enjoyments  and  activities,  130,  131. 

2.  Social  life  in  summer,  131. 
Literature  and  art,  131,  132. 

1.  Periodical  publications,  131. 

2.  Books  ;  number  and  character,  131. 

3.  Art  galleries  and  artists,  131,  132. 
Politics  in  Chile,  132,  133. 

1.  Spaniards  lacking  in  combination  ;  results,  13a. 

2.  The  clerical  party  and  its  aims,  132. 

3.  Objects  of  the  liberal  party,  132. 

4.  The  Spanish  theory  of  government,  132,  133. 

5.  Chile's  comparative  freedom  from  revolutions,  133. 

6.  Evils  arising  from  the  clerical  party,  133. 
Religion  and  morals,  133-136. 

1.  Early  character  of  South  American  religion,  133,  134. 

2.  Its  leading  tenets,  134. 

3.  The  fruits  of  Romanism,  134-136. 

(i)  It  divorces  morals  and  religion,  134  (2)  Other  fruits,  135.  (3) 
Favors  ignorance,  135.  (4)  Looseness  of  marriage  ties  ;  re- 
form laws,  135,  136. 

4.  Hierarchy  of  the  State  Church,  136. 
Protestant  missionary  work,  136-139. 

1.  The  two  leading  Boards,  136,  137. 

(i)  Presbyterians,  136.  (2)  Methodists,  137.  (3)  Literature  and  force 
of  the  two  societies,  137,     (4)  Self-support  and  progress,  137. 

2.  Activities  of  other  societies  summarized,  137,  138. 

3.  Temperance  agitation,  138. 


(3)  Prominent  heroes,  130. 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX 

4.  Mission  to  the  Araucanians,  138,  139. 

(i)  The  Indians  described,  138.  (2)  South  American  Missionary  Soci- 
ety's work  ;  Canada's  honorable  share  in  it,  138,  139. 

CHAPTER  VII 

THE    LAND    OF    THB   INCAS 

I.     A  bit  of  Inca  history,  143-146. 

1.  Extent  of  the  Empire,  143. 

2.  Its  two  ancient  capitals,  143. 

3.  The  Inca  court,  143. 

4.  Early  history  of  the  Empire,  143,  144. 

(i)  Its  lack  of  homogeneity,  143,  144.  (2)  Two  dominant  tribes,  144. 
(•3)  The  Inca  race,  144. 

5.  Inca  religion,  144,  145. 

(i)  Its  gods  and  temples,  144.     (2)   The  Sun,  145. 

6.  The  first  Inca  and  his  successors,  145. 

7.  Character  of  Inca  civilization,  145,  146. 

8.  Effect  of  three  centuries  of  oppression,  146. 

II.     Peculiar  dilhculties  encountered  by  missions,  146-149. 

1.  Priestcraft,  147. 

2.  Power  of  the  sword,  147. 

3.  Resulting  demoralization,  147. 

4.  Incaism,  and  its  present  traces,  147, 

5.  Pre-Incan  idolatry,  147. 

6.  Present  lack  of  population,  147,  148. 

7.  Meagre  immigration,  148. 

8.  Religious  liberty  greatly  restricted,  148. 

9.  Scholasticism's  blessing  and  bane,  148,  149. 
10.  Lack  of  extended  evangelization,  149. 

III.  Successful  beginnings,  149-157. 

1.  Supposedly  impenetrable  regions  entered,  149-151. 

(1)  J.  Mongiardino,  149,  150.  (2)  Unsuccessful  attempts,  150.  (3) 
Mr.  Milne's  party,  150.      (4)  The  tour  of  1884,  150,  151. 

2.  Occupation  of  strategic  points  hitherto  luitenahle,  151-154. 

(i)  Peru  :  Lima,  C'allao,  etc.,  151  ;  successful  lines,  151,  152;  Methodist 
school  work,  152  ;  Cuzco  workers,  152,  153;  Adventists,  153; 
independent  laborers,  153;  American  Bible  Society,  153; 
Woman's  Society,  M.  E.  Church,  153,  154;  Plaza  of  Inquisi- 
tion headquarters,  154.     (2)   Ecuador,  154.     (3)  Bolivia,  154. 

3.  Regeneration  of  heart  and  life,  154,  155. 

4.  Development  of  workers,  155. 

5.  Tendency  toward  revivals,  155. 

(1)  Caliao  revival  in  1897,  155.     (2)  Later  it  will  aflfect  Spaniards,  155. 

6.  Disappearance  of  legal  difficulties,  155,  156. 

7.  A  glorious  outlook,  156,  157. 

IV.  An  appeal  to  women,  157-159. 

1.  Romantic  history  of  Incaria,  157. 

2.  Priestly  subjugation  of  womanhood,  157,  158. 

3.  Protestantism  afforded  no  relief,  158. 

4.  Iniquity  of  the  confessional,  158. 

5.  Hopeless  condition  of  these  three  lands,  158,  159. 

6.  Women  superior  to  men  in  this  field,  159. 

7.  Woman's  work,  consequently,  most  advantageous,  159. 

CHAPTER  VIII 

COLOMBIA 

I.     The  aboriginal  Indians,  163,  164. 

1.  The  Aruhacas  and  Catholic  missions,  163, 

2.  How  to  reach  the  Indians,  163,  164. 

3.  Their  customs  described,  164. 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX 

II.     The  pioneers  and  founding  of  Protestant  missions,  164,  165. 

III.  Recent  efforts  in  Colombia,  165-169. 

1.  Presbyterians  in  Bogota,  165,  166. 

(i)  Reinforcements  and  death,  165,  166.     (2)  Bogota  described,  166. 

2.  Southern  Presbyterians,  166,  167. 

(i)  In  Barranquilla,  166.     (2)    Mr.  Erwin's  labors,  166,  167. 

3.  Northern  Presbyterians  in  Barranquilla,  167,  168. 

4.  Their  labors  in  Medellin,  168,  i6g. 

5.  American  Bible  Society's  work  in  Bucaramanga,  169. 

6.  Itinerants  of  the  Methodist  Church,  169. 

IV.  Most  effective  forms  of  effort,  169,  170. 

1.  Day-  and  boarding-schools,  169,  170, 

2.  Evangelistic  touring,  170. 

(i)  Its  character,  170.     (2)  Its  success,  170. 
V.     Some  Colombian  converts,  170-172. 

1.  Doctor  Heraclio  Osoona,  170,  171. 

2.  Juan  Cortez,  171. 

3.  Rev.  Manuel  Ferrando,  171. 

4.  Esteer  Garcia,  171,  172. 

5.  General  characterization  of  converts,  172. 

VI.  Main  results  of  mission  work  in  Colombia,  172,  173. 

CHAPTER  IX 

VENEZUELA 

I.    Venezuela's  area  and  population,  177. 
II.     Its  discovery  and  history,  177,  178. 

1.  Discovery  and  naming,  177. 

2.  Sketch  of  Venezuelan  history,  177,  178. 

III.  Cosmopolitan  character  of  the  population,  178,  179, 

1.  The  Indians,  178. 

2.  The  Spaniards,  178. 

3.  So-called  Venezuelans,  178,  179. 

IV.  Venezuelan  homes,  179-181. 

1.  Caracas,  the  main  centre,  179. 

2.  Its  residences  described,  180. 

3.  Interior  views,  180. 

4.  Surroundings  of  missionary  homes,  180,181. 

5.  The  one  thing  lacking,  181. 

V.     Beginnings  of  Protestant  effort,  181-183. 

1.  The  first  workers  and  church,  181,  182. 

2.  Emilio  Silva  Bryant,  1S2,  183. 

VI.     Present  missionary  operations,  183-188. 

1.  Presbyterian  work,  183,  184. 

(i)  Rev.  Mr.  Ferrando,  183.     (2)  Present  status,  183,  184. 

2.  Christian. and  Missionary  Alliance,  184,  185. 

(i)  In  Caracas,  184,  185.     (2)   In  La  Guaira,  185. 

3.  Work  of  the  Brethren,  185,  186. 

(0    Mr.    Mitchell's   tours,    185,     (2)    His  testimony,    185,   186.     (3)    In 
Valencia,  186. 

4.  South  American  Evangelical  Mission,  187, 

5.  Independent  work,  187. 

6.  Character  of  Protestant  efforts,  187,  188. 

VII.  Elements  in  the  contest,  188-190. 

1.  Day  of  small  things,  188. 

2.  Essentials  most  needed,  188,  189. 

3.  Greatest  hindrances,  189,  190. 

(i)  Immorality,  189.     (2)  Poverty,  189.     (3)  Foreign  examples,  189,  190. 

4.  Venezuela's  hope  for  the  future,  190. 

235 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX 

VIII.     Points  common  to  Colombia  and  Venezuela,  190-194. 

1.  Summary  statements,  igo. 

2.  Importance  of  evangelizing  these  lands  ;  methods,  190,  191. 

3.  Kind  of  candidates  desired,  191,  192. 

4.  Home  life  of  the  missionaries,  192,  193. 

5.  A  Macedonian  cry,  193,  194. 

CHAPTER  X 

SOUTH    AMERICA    AS   A    MISSION    FIELD 

L     South  America's  physical  development,  197-200. 

1.  Proportion  of  surface  available  for  dense  population,  197. 

2.  Sparsely  populated  area  suited  for  immigration,  197. 

3.  Accessibility  to  immigrants,  197,  198. 

(i)   Its  coasts,  197.     (2)   River  navigation,  198.     (3)   Railways,  198. 

4.  Welcome  accorded  European  home-seekers,  198. 

(i)  North  America  and  South  compared,  198.  (2)  South  America  de- 
sirous of  immigrants,  198. 

5.  Akin  to  the  United  States,  198,  199. 

(i)  In  physical  conditions,  198,  199.  (2)  In  climate,  199.  (3)  In  re- 
sources, 199. 

6.  Consequent  results,  199,  200. 

(i)  Emigration  turning  to  South  America,  199.     (3)  Soon  will  receive 
millions  from  Europe,  199.     (3)  This  increase  will  be  luiprc- 
cedentedly  rapid,  199,  200.     (4)    Will  probably  surpass  other 
continents  as  receiver  to  virgin  soil  of  Europeans,  200. 
II.     South  America's  moral  development,  200-203. 

1.  Moral  homogeneity  in  all  parts,  200,  201. 

2.  Kinship  among  all  its  nations,  201. 

(i)  Common  traditions,  aspirations  and  tendencies,  201.  (2)  Character 
of  uniting  bond,  201. 

3.  All-prevailing  aspiration  to  imitate  the  United  States,  2or,  202. 

(i)  Particulars  in  which  they  have  done  this,  201.  (2)  Differences, 
201,  202. 

4.  Freedom  from  Old  World  domination,  202. 

(i)  South  America  the  freest  continent,  202.  (2)  This  freedom  vitir 
ated,  202. 

5.  Possibilities  resulting  from  this  moral  and  political  status,  202,  203. 

(i)  South  America  oflfers  largest  field  for  future  moral  movements  ;  illus- 
trations ;  favoring  circumstances,  202,  203.  (2)  Possibly  the 
best  field  for  developing  moral  characteristics  of  the  United 
States,  203.  (3)  Must  ultimately  stand  as  larger  half  of  New 
World  humanity,  203. 
III.     South  America's  moral  drawbacks,  203-210. 

1.  Deleterious  influences  of  the  priesthood,  203-205. 

(i)  Some  instances,  203,  204.  (2)  Character  of  the  priests,  204,  203. 
(3)  Pope  Leo's  Encyclical,  205, 

2.  Evils  due  to  the  sword,  205,  206. 

(i)  Revolutions,  205.  (2)  International  wars,  206.  (3)  Share  in  these 
of  the  priests,  206.     (4)  Example  of  great  contrarieties,  206. 

3.  Peculiar  forms  of  demoralization,  206,  2oy. 

(i)  Civil  wars,  206.  (2)  Perverted  patriotism,  206.  (3)  Despotism, 
206.     (4)  Servility  and  unbelief,  207. 

4.  Supposed  remedies  for  moral  defects  ineffective,  207,  208. 

(i)  Good  constitutions  ineffective,  207.  (2)  Failure  of  law,  207.  (3) 
Immigration  morally  ineffective,  207.  (4)  All  these  a  help 
but  not  a  cure,  207,  208. 

5.  Exclusion  of  the  one  thing  needful,  208,  209. 

(i)  Practical  paganism  prevalent,  208.  (2)  Worse  off  than  pagans,  208. 
C3)  Apathy  of  Protestantism,  208.  (4)  Reform  from  within 
desirable  but  not  probable,  208,  209. 

6.  Synopsis  of  the  moral  situation,  209,  210. 

(i)  Regeneration  must  come  from  without,  209.     (2)  South  America  at 

236 


ANALYTICAL   INDEX 

the  bottom  of  the  moral  scale,  209.     (3)  The  two  Americas  a 
significant  object  lesson,  209.     (4)   South  America  to  be  tlie 
great  battlefield  of  Romanism  and  Evangelical  Christianitj', 
209,  210. 
IV.     North  America's  obligation  to  rescue,  210-212. 

1.  The  continent  nearest  to  North  America,  210. 

2.  Influences  from  the  United  States  peculiarly  welcome,  210. 

3.  Europe  leaving  America  for  the  Americans,  2x0, 

4.  I'he  argument  of  achieved  success,  211. 

(i)  Initiative  from  without,  211.  (2)  Pioneering  accomplished,  211. 
(3)   Signs  of  future  triumphs,  211. 

5.  Inferences  from  the  above,  211,  212. 

(i)  South  America  an  excellent  field  for  North  American  societies,  211. 
(2)  The  work  to  be  done,  211,  212. 
V.     Reflex  influences  from  South  American  missions,  212-215. 
1.  On  Catholic  Europe,  212,  213. 

(i)  Immigrants  less  subject  to  priests,  212.  (2)  Europeans  less  in- 
volved in  politics,  212.  (3)  Best  gospel  workers  are  converted 
Europeans,  212.  (4)  Work  for  immigrants  peculiarly  urgent, 
212.  (5)  Thej"- transmit  the  leaven  to  their  European  homes, 
212.  (6)  Immigrants  easier  to  reach  in  South  America  than 
at  home,  212,  213. 
a.  Reflex  influence  on  the  Latin  race,  213,  214. 

(i)  Argued   from  influence  of  Saxon   America  on  Saxon  Europe,  213. 

(2)  Great  future  of  Latin  race  will  be  in  South  America,  213. 

(3)  Latin  evangelization  a  related  whole,  213.  (4)  This  race 
has  a  new  opportunity  to  retrieve  their  mistake  at  the  Ref- 
ormation, 213.  (5)  If  regenerated,  the  race  would  speedily 
rise,  214.  (6)  Mutual  influences  of  the  two  Americas,  214. 
(7)   Power  of  universal  evangelization,  214. 

3.  Reflex  influence  on  the  Americo-European  family,  214,  215. 

(i)  South  .A^merican  Asiatic  populations  will  not  greatly  increase,  214. 
{2)  Nor  will  the  Africans,  214.  (3)  Europeans'  will  fill  up  the 
continent,  214.  (4)  Two  Americas  and  Europe  the  homes  of 
European  humanity,  214,  215.  (5)  Interplay  of  moral  influ- 
ences will  develop  unity  and  homogeneity,  215.  (6)  Vantage 
ground  for  a  world-embracing  missionary  movement,  215. 


237 


MAP  INDEX 


This  Index  indicates  the  location  on  the  map  of  the  various  mission 
stations,  but  it  does  more.  Immediately  following  the  name,  enclosed 
within  parentheses,  is  the  population  of  the  city  or  town  except  where 
it  could  not  be  obtained.  When  it  is  printed  in  black-faced  type  the 
figures  were  obtained  from  "  Andree's  Geographsches  Handbuch  "  ;  if 
in  ordinary  type,  the  information  was  found  in  "The  Statesman's  Year- 
book," or  some  other  trustworthy  source.  The  numbers  following  the 
parentheses  indicate  the  society  or  societies  having  resident  mission- 
aries there.  The  reader  may  learn  the  name  of  the  societies  correspond- 
ing to  the  numbers  by  reference  to  the  society  list  in  Appendix  C, 
where  the  number  stands  at  the  left  hand  of  each  society.  The  final 
capital  letter  and  number  on  the  right  of  each  town  in  the  Index  indi- 
cate the  square  on  the  map  where  the  town  is  found,  the  capital  letters 
being  on  the  side  margins  of  the  map  and  the  numerals  on  the  top  and 
bottom  margins. 


Akkerboom,  28  B4 

Albina,  28  B6 

Albuoystown  (in  Georgetown),  11  B4  B5 
Ambato,  (10,000)— 19  C2 

Angol,  (6.^00)— 27  P'2 

Anna  Catherine,  36      British  Guiana 
Anna  Regina,  31  British  Guiana 

Antofagasta,  (13,000)— 27  E2 

Araguary,  13  D5 

Arghntink  Republic,  (4,573,608) — 
^>  3>  7>  '°>  ^^>  16,  21,  24,  26,  27,  29, 
30,  32,  33- 
Asuncion,  (4:6,000)— 16,  27  E4 

Azul,  (7,800) — 10,  21  F4 

Bahia.  (300,000)— 4,  10,  17  D6 

Bahia  Blanca,  32  F3 

Barranquilla,  (15,000)— 4  A2 

Beekhuizen,  28  B6 

Bergendal,  28  B6 

Berseba,  28  B6 

Beterverwachting,  28  B5 

Bethvenwagting,  31  British  Guiana 

Better  Hope  (translation  of  Beterver- 
wachting), 18  B5 
Bogota,  (96,000)— 4  B2 
Bolivia,  (2,000,000) — 15,  16,  32, 
Brazil,  (14,333.915)— i,  2,  4,  5,  6,  7, 

10,  13,  16,  17,  23,  26,  27,  32. 
British   Guiana,    (286,222)— 8,    11, 

12,  16,  18,  20,  28,  30,  31. 
Bucaramanga,  (11,000)— i  B2 

Buenos  Aires,  (745,000)— i,  3,  11, 
16,  24,  27,  29,  30,  33  F4 

Cabacaburi,  31  B5 


Callao,  (35,000)— 22,  27  D2 

Campinas,  (18,000) — 13  Es 

Campos,  (40,000)— 17  Es 

Caracas,  (7?2,000)— 4.  10,  ii  A3 

Carolina,  32  C5 

Cartagena,  (9,700)— 33  A2 

Castro,  4  E4 

Catharina  Sophia,  28  B6 

Caxias,  (10.000) — 13  C5 

Charlottenburg,  28  B6 
Chile,  (2,712,145)— 3.  4,  10,  i6,  27,  33. 

Chilian,  (39,000)— 4  F2 

Cholchol,  33  F2 
Colombia,  (4,000,000) — i,  4,  35. 

Colon,  (1,500)— 35  B2 
Combe  (in  Paramaribo),  28             B4  B6 

Concepcion,  La,  (40,000)— 27  F2 

Concordia,  (11,500) — 27  F4 

Copiapo,  (9,300)— 4  E2 

Coquimbo,  (8,400)— 27  F2 

Cordoba,  (48,000)— 11,  32  F3 
Coronel  Suarez.  29  Argentine  Republic 

Cuenca,  (30,000)— 27  C2 
Ciudad  Bolivar,  (11,000)— 32,  34      B3 

Curitiba,  (25,000)— 4  E5 

Cuzco,  (83,000)— 29  D2 

Diamante,  (2,000) — 16  F3 

Domburg,  28  B6 

Dutch  Guiana,  (65,168)— 16,  28. 

Ebenv  Point,  ii  British  Guiana 

Ecuador,  (1,271,861)— 8,  16,  lo. 
Essequibo,  12  British  Guiana 


238 


MAP  INDEX 


Falkland  Islands,  (2,050) — 33. 
Feira  de  St.  Anna,  4  D6 

Florianopolis   (Desterro),   (31,000) 

-4  Es 

Fortaleza,  (4:1,000)  — 13  C6 

French  Guiana,  (33,300). 
Friendship,  12  British  Guiana 

Garanhuns,  (see  Canhotinho),  13      C6 
Georgetown,   (56,000) — ii,    12,   16, 

28.  31  B4  B5 

Goed  Fortuin,  12  British  Guiana 

Graham's  Hall,  28  B5 

Groot  Chatillon,  28  B6 

Guayaquil,  (51,000)— 19,  27  C2 

Heerendyk,  28  B6 

Helena,  18  B5 

Huacho,  (5,000) — 14  D2 

Iquique,  (33,000)— 27  E2 

Juiz  de  Fora,  (15,000)— 5  E5 

Keppel,  33  H4 

Kwattahede,  28  B6 

La  Concepcion,  (40,000)— 27        F2 
La  Paz,  (40,000)— 15  D3 

La  Plata,  (65,000) — 10  F4 

I,arangeiras,  (3,000) — 4  D6 

La  Serena,  (16,000)— 27  E2 

Las  Flores,  29  F4 

Las  Garzas,  16  Argentine  Republic 

Lavras,  13  E5 

Leliendal,  28  B6 

Lima,  (105,000)— 11,  14,  16,  27       D2 
Lomas  de  Zamora  (^  La  Paz),  (7,000) 

-27  F4 

Machala,  (3,000) — 27  C2 

Mahaica,  12  65 

Maranhao,  (39,000)— 13  C5 

Marianna,  5  E5 

Maripaston,  28  B6 

Medellin,  (37,000)— 4  B2 

Mendoza,  (39,000)— 27  F3 

Mercedes,  (9,500) — 27  F4 

Montevideo,  (361,000)— 3,   11,  27, 

30  F4 

Moruka,  31  B4  B5 

Natal,  (14,000)— n  C6 

New  Amsterdam,   (9,000)— 12,    16, 

24,  31  B4  B5 

Nickerie,  28  B4  B6 

Nictheroy,  (36,100) — 6  E5 

Nova  Friburgo,  4  E5 

Olavarrja,  (2,000) — 10  F3 

Oreala,  31  B5 

Oruro,  (15,000)— 15  D3 

Ouro  Preto,  (aa,000)— 6  E5 

Panama,  (^5,000)- 35  B2 


Para,  (65,000)— 17,  27  Cs 

Paraguay,  (730,000) — 16,  27,  33. 
Parahyba,  (40,000)— 13  C6 

Paramaribo,    (589,000)- 16,    24,    28 

B4B6 
Passa  Tres,  6  E5 

Paysandu, 30  F4 

Pelotas,  (33,000)— 2  F4 

Pernambuco,  (190,000)— 6,  13,  17  C6 
Peru,  (4,609,999) — 14,  16,  22,  27,  29 
Petropolis,  (12,000) — 5  E5 

Piracicaba,  (5,000) — 5  Es 

Plaisance,  31  British  Guiana 

Porto  Alegre,  (55,000)— 2,  16,  27    E4 
Potribo,  28  B6 

Queenstown,  II  Bs 

Quepe,  33  F2 

Quito,  (80,000)— 10,  19,  27  C2 

RiBEiRAO  Preto,  (8,000) — 5  E5 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  (533,651)— i,  5,  6, 

7,  16,  17,  23  Es 

Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  (21,000) — 2,  16     F4 
Rosario,  (94,000)— 3,  7.  27,  33  F3 

Rust  en  Vrede  (in  Paramaribo),  28 

B4B6 
Rust  en  Werk,  28  B6 

St.  Andrews,  16  Colombia 

Salem,  28  B6 

Salto,  (13,000)— 30  F4 

San  Bernardo,  (5,200) — 10  F2 

San  Felipe,  (11,300)— 27  F2 

Santa  Maria  da  Bocca  do  Monte,  2    E4 
Santa  Rosa,  (3.000) — 27  C2 

Santiago,  (356,000)— 4,  27  F2 

Sao  Joao  d'El  Rei,  (8,000) — 13  Es 

Sao  Paulo.  (100,000)— 4,  5,  13,  17  E5 
Suhin  Station,  33  E4 

Talca.  (33,000)— 4  F2 

Tekenika,  33  H3 

Temuco,  (4.000) — 27  Fz 

Trujillo,  (11,000)— 29  C2 

Tumbez,  (3,300)— 27  Ci 

Uruguay,  (840,725)— j,  ii,  16,  27,  30. 
USHUAIA,  33  H3 

Valdivia,  (^,700) — 10  F2 

Valencia,  (39,000)— 11  A3 

Valparaiso,  (133,000)— 3,  4,  16,  27   F2 
Venezuela,    (2,444,816)—!,  4,    10, 

II,  32,  34. 
Victoria,  32  A3 

Waikthlatingmangyalwa,  33      E4 
Waini,  31  British  Guiana 

Wanhatti,  28  B6 

Wanica  (in  Paramaribo),  28  B4  B6 

Warraputa,  31  B5 

Waterloo,  28  B6 


Date  Due 

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